


Refugees in Skyrim

by Lanelle



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman - Fandom, Batman Beyond, Batman the Animated Series, DCU (Comics), Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Flashpoint (Comics), Harry Potter - Fandom, Young Justice
Genre: Author has no plan, Author is bad at editing, Author only has vague knowledge of Comics, Constructive Criticism Welcome, F/M, Family Bonding, Matt needs more Bat Family Love!, Maybe future Romance, Not getting a Beta!, Self edit only, Seriously they may not happen again, Trying to keep Characters in Character!, Updates are rare miracles savor them!, Writing practice only!, bad language, plot holes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-03
Updated: 2018-05-14
Packaged: 2018-11-08 16:08:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 29,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11085147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lanelle/pseuds/Lanelle
Summary: After another Crisis the survivors of the destroyed Earths have to find new homes... new homes in another multiverse.  How will they deal with the Society of Skyrim when most of the heroes don't believe in killing and the jails are worse than death?  And what's this about Dragons?





	1. The End and a new Beginning..

The battle was over ... the Anti Monitor was dead. Unknown to the survivors, the battle ended far sooner, with more survivors then it did in a previous time... in that far universe that once was.

Gloved fingers flew across keys typing commands, endless charts coming up onto a extremely large screen.

"Tornado have you calculated how long the pocket dimension has?" Batman asks skimming the charts quickly.

The robot pauses, rechecking it's calculations, "Yes, it has approximately 36 hours 52 minutes 44 seconds until complete collapse."

"When will it become too unstable to sustain a portal?" The cowled vigilante demands.

"30 hours 10 minutes 15 seconds." it replies.

At one of the other terminals Atom suddenly lets out a, "YES!" drawing the attention of a dozen other heroes at similar terminals. "Batman I found one!"

There was far more then one Batman but he was looking at the one that was questioning Red Tornado. Half the people in the room join Atom at his terminal.

"Let's see it." he says as Atom brings up charts and readings from one of his probes.

"As you can see this other multiverse is very similar to ours. It definitely has humans, air, water, the plants are almost exactly like what's on Earth. We could survive there." Atom informs them.

The heroes from Universes that survived already returned to their home dimensions... the survivors of the universes that were destroyed couldn't join them. They just didn't have time to see if there was a counterpart in every one of the universes before the pocket dimension's collapse. 

Two of the exact same people could not survive in the same universe without it collapsing.

The easy answer was to just find a different but compatible multiverse.

All they had to do was to make sure the survivors going to the same Universe could co-exist. It was easier to test a couple thousand people then to search hundreds of worlds for counterparts. Especially on this type of time limit.

"Looks good. Let's get to work."

\--------------------------

Hermione Weasley was on a mission. Cutting through the groups of 'superheroes' she was quickly dismissing them one by one.

She needed to find someone she recognized... someone who was a witch or wizard from a reality close to her own reality.

"I saw someone over at third terminal. He was wearing robes like yours only red." One of the Supermen tells her tiredly. He had a soviet symbol on his chest instead of a 'S'. He was obviously exhausted like everyone else that participated directly in the battle. It didn't matter, no one was getting any sleep anytime soon.

"Yes, that certainly sounds like someone from a similar universe. Thank you for your help. I'll check them out. Good luck to you." She nods at the man, quickly moving through the busy crowd.

It didn't take long for her to find the red robed man that Superman saw earlier. "Harry!"

A much younger and almost exact looking copy of her friend turns and gives her a sad smile, "Hermione I presume?..I... It's good to see you."

She knew that expression. She gives him a understanding look, "I assume my counterpart from your universe is lost?"

He swallows and reluctantly nods, clearly not able to vocalize it.

"My condolences", she says quietly.

He shakes his head, "...She's not truly gone. I'll see her again some day... I'm one of the lucky ones that knows that for certain. Her and..." he pauses... he seemed unable to say Ron's name. He swallows hard, "...well.. they... would want me to live on." He takes a deep breath, "Anyways, did you want something?"

"Yes, it's not for me but I need to check your chart." She says holding her hand out for the little pad everyone had on their person now. It showed the frequency readings for each individual. Comparing them showed whether a person could co-exist in the same universe. It also conveniently had a reading of everyone else that survived from their original universe.

Everyone from the same universe was going to the same place. Those in charge at the moment were leaving the choice to the survivors to find who they wanted to go with.

The 'frequencies' were given a number system. If two people were within one hundred points of each other they couldn't co-exist in the same universe of the new Multiverse. There were only so many universes in this new multiverse so many had to go to the same location, "... damn it! If they were fifteen more points lower, it would have been safe.."

"Who is this for? Are they in the infirmary?" Harry asks curiously. She did say it wasn't for her. Not many people were in the infirmary. You were either uninjured or dead when going against someone like the Anti-monitor.

The middle-aged witch shakes her head, "The monitor contacted one of Dumbledore's counterparts minutes before his universe was bound to collapse. The Monitor told him that little fact hoping to get him to jump into the portal and then into the fight. Dumbledore was talking to your counterpart for some miss adventure..."

Harry smiles fondly a sad air about him, "He didn't save himself and instead shoved the kid through the portal??"

Hermione stops and stares... how did he... never mind. Harry might deny it but he really did know Professor Dumbledore... even if they were talking about the professor's counterpart and not the one he specifically knew.

"He only managed to save him, the monitor thought he was heading to evacuate more of the children," she informs him.

An ill look crosses his face, "He's all alone up here isn't he? Merlin, he must be terrified..."

"Exactly. He's too close to my group's frequency and now yours. I'm hoping to find someone from a similar enough universe so I can feel safe leaving him in their care. That and he's only eleven. If he doesn't continue learning how to control his magic it could backfire on him in the future." she reasons. "So basically we need someone who practices our brand of magic."

Harry rakes his hand through his hair, "Oh bloody hell.... Yeah that's serious...." He thinks about it for a moment. "I think I do know someone who might be able to help. She's a female counterpart. I was going to invited her to my group. She's the only survivor of her universe. I think her frequency is higher than mine not lower like the kid's."

Hermione lets out a breath. "So they probably could co-exist. Hurry, lead the way. If she doesn't want to take him on I'll need to continue searching."

"No. We'll continue searching." he corrects her with a smile.

\--------------------------------

Nightwing and the other universe's Robin looked through each other's charts towards the frequency reading.

Nightwing and his family survived the battle but their world and their League was lost. He was one of the lucky ones. He had his brothers and sisters. 

Jason was restlessly twitching up against the wall obviously wanting to reach for a cigarette but having the common sense not to risk it. Tim was looking through the base's database diligently and Damian was brooding. Babs was with Tim at the terminal conducting frequency tests on the few Heroes yet to get them, Steph was tiredly perched on a counter and Cass was watching the countless people moving about. Even Alfred and Damian's dog Titus managed to survive. Batman... their Bruce was at the main terminal helping the Techs to stabilize the link to the other multiverse.

"It looks like we're just outside of each other's range. Our groups are safe to co-exist." Nightwing smiles at his younger counterpart, not that the kid knew he was a counterpart.

"Yeah." the kid says quietly. Behind him was a small group of what Nightwing would have identified as Titans but the younger him told him they were called 'Young Justice' in his universe.

"Do you guys want to join us?" It seemed that they lost all the adult heroes from their universe. This was especially a nightmare for them..

Robin looks behind him towards Wally, Artemis, Megan, Superboy and Kaldur. They were standing back, keeping a respectful distance from the other group. 

Nightwing was part of a group that didn't have a lot of heavy hitters. The others might want to go to a universe with familiar faces, to a universe with more metas.

"Give us a minute." Robin was more tech savvy then the rest in his group so he was given the task of looking through the readings and checking out the other groups. He had no right to make this choice for them.

"Nightwing" Red Robin calls to him, drawing his attention from the group of teens. Turning he quickly joins Tim at the terminal. It would give the alternate Robin and his team some time to think through their choice.

"What is it?" Tim was keeping track of the traffic feed to the other terminals. There were a lot of issues being worked though at the moment. Some people didn't know if any of their friends were alive, some were looking for counterparts of people they knew. A few were checking to see if their universe survived. There was A LOT of grief.

Tim nods his head at the overhead display. "Looks like they stabilized the link. Each group is going to be able to send out scouts in about an hour. Once they figure out the logistics they're going to have a meeting at the primary terminal. ETA for the meeting is thirty minutes." there were at least fifty terminals.

Nightwing nods, "Keep me posted."

"I... we'll join you." the alternate Robin was back. His group wasn't standing back from their group this time.

Dick gives his younger counterpart a slight smile and holds out a hand. "Welcome to the group. I'm keeping track of our group's frequency readings.... so.."

"Oh!... here." Robin says handing over their groups tablet to the man. "Since we're joining your group, I guess it would be easier if one person was keeping track of them."

"Yeah." he says quietly and waves them towards the area the group was now waiting.

Time goes by at a snail's pace. Other groups go through, checking the readings but most of them had counterparts that couldn't co-exist with the current group.

"Yeah, I'm looking for whoever is in charge of that kid. He accidentally blew up a side terminal." It was an alternate Batman. He was shorter then Bruce and definitely much younger. His suit was pitch black with a red symbol instead of a yellow one and he didn't have a cape. The suit was highly advanced. 

Oracle who was helping him, shakes her head, "I checked the computer. No cape came through with him. He escaped his universe seconds before it was gone."

The young Batman lets out a breath, "Is there anything else in the file?"

"Someone is going around looking for a group for him, that's about it." Oracle informs him.

"How about you bring him over here? We have a lot of people just standing around." Nightwing suggests, indicating the group of young heroes along with his brothers and sisters.

The young Batman grunts, "I think the old man wants him to go with us. We have a kid and a dog with us too." he didn't mention that their kid was his little brother. Secret identity and all that...

"Are you part of a larger group yet?" Nightwing asks.

He shakes his head, "The old man is being picky."

Nightwing gives a reluctant and humorless chuckle, "Yeah I know how that feels. I'm currently in charge of this group. Our Batman is at the main terminal. Lets see your chart, along with the kid's info. Maybe your group could fit in with us."

The information is quickly turned over Nightwing checks it then nods, "We're good to go if you want." It was a good match then.

The young Batman nods and lifts a finger to his cowl's ear, "You listening in old man?" he pauses listening to the other end, "I see. That would have been a problem. Well bring everyone over. We can check the kid's readings and you can decide if we're joining them."

The young Batman turns back to them. "The kid has magic based abilities. That's how the terminal ended up fried. Someone is looking for an adult with the same abilities, that's why he was alone. They didn't want to drag him through the place and possibly upset him more with everything going on. Apparently it's dangerous if he doesn't get trained eventually so he needs to go to the new dimension with someone with the same abilities."

Nightwing nods grimly. "Have they found anyone?"

"Not yet. The old man is in contact with the lady that's looking. He's heading over here with the kids."

It takes a couple of minutes but a person who was unmistakably Bruce Wayne comes out of the crowd. He was old and gray and leaning heavily onto a cane. At his side were two children and a dog. One of the children was a little older then the other. He was wearing pajamas with little lions as a print. The little lions were moving as if they were alive. He was clearly the kid with magic.

The old man pauses at the sight of Nightwing's uniform, but he quickly walks over to the two. He silently holds out his hand for the chart information of the group. He looks around at the people joining the party, making a quick visual assessment before turning to the charts.

"So?" the young Batman asks impatiently.

The old man goes over the information on the pads and doesn't look up for several moments, He checks and rechecks it, "We'll be joining them." he grunts reluctantly, handing the pads back to Nightwing.

Nightwing nods, "Red Robin is due for a break at the terminal if you want to take it over." Batman and in turn Bruce Wayne didn't like to be out of touch in situations like this. For everyone involved it was probably a good idea to stick him at the desk. It was also the only place in the area with actual chairs.

Old Mr. Wayne lifts a brow at Nightwing. He knew he was suggesting it because of his age. Red Robin who was listening in practically jumps up to give him the space. He couldn't help but grunt in annoyance as he steps forward and takes the chair.

"The meeting is in five minutes Nightwing." Tim informs him quickly as goes to the bit of wall next to the terminal. The futuristic Batman and the two kids were already leaning up against one of the nearby walls.

"I'll head over there. Watch it on the overhead screen. If you want to relay any questions I'll be on channel 15." he informs the group, tapping the on switch of his communicator. He hands the information pads over to Red Robin. The meeting hall was too small to accommodate everyone who survived, so representatives of each of the groups were being sent. Nightwing was theirs.

\------------------------

Harry didn't know what to make of his situation. Professor Dumbledore didn't question the strange man that came out of the portal that started talking about some war. He looked the stranger in the eye and immediately forced him, Harry into the portal in spite of the strange man's half hearten protests. The portal closed violently behind him and the strange man was just left flabbergasted. Harry had the feeling that it was abnormal for him to be in that state.

On the other side of the portal was a far more fantastical world than any of the science fiction movies that Harry had glimpsed from Dudley constant Telly viewing. Everything was shiny metal and glass with advanced computers and thousands of screens.

Strange men and women in even stranger clothes were everywhere. Most of them looked strong and intimidating. Harry knew he wasn't the tallest first year but to only reach waist height to many of them was saying something about how utterly tall some of these people were. And that was just the beginning.

Many of them could fly without brooms, some of them would walk around on Fire or with lightning racing along their bodies and be completely alright. Some of them could clearly lift thousands of Kilos without effort. There were Witches and Wizards, and he was fairly certain that one of them looked exactly like Merlin's chocolate frog card!

It didn't take long for one of these strong and strangely dressed people to take notice of him. It also didn't take long for them to hunt down the original strange man, who happened to be very very busy, and get the information out of him.

The 'superhero' returned and quietly explained to him what was going on.

The world, his friends, his family, the animals, the school, everyone he's ever known was just... gone. The Earth he had been a part of was one of the first to be destroyed.

He at first didn't believe the person but it was impossible to ignore the truth for long. The battle was on going and it only took the sight of one of the other Earths being destroyed for him to realize this was all real. To see the surviving strong and unbreakable 'Heroes' that were on the station crumble into agonized grief. That type of grief wasn't something that people could fake.

This was all real.

After that it wasn't hard for him to connect the sight of Earth after Earth being destroyed with his own... to acknowledge his world's death. His friends deaths...

He couldn't help but watch the Earth be destroyed over and over again... of watching these impossibly strong people fall into complete despair.

It was retching.. the helplessness he felt..

The battle eventually ended and the strange futuristic place was filled with hundreds if not thousands of the strange people, the survivors of the battle.

Then Hermione was there. She was old like Ron's mum. She had the same air about her. She hugged him, it felt like what he thought a mum's hug should feel like. She explained further that some of the different Earths had other Ron's and Hermione's and sometimes other hims. Everyone from her Earth was older like her.

Few of the magic worlds survived.

It was all something he would have known about if he had been allowed to watch Dudley's science fiction programs. They were called alternate dimensions.

Hermione told him that he would now have to find a new world to become a part of. For some Science reason he couldn't go with her and her version of Ron. She promised though that she would find someone for him, that he wouldn't have to be alone. 

She had him promise that he would stay where he was before she tore off to search.

Alone again, he tried to hold it back the grief. Overhearing, from a nearby terminal about the death of the 'superhero' that took the time to explain everything was what tipped him over. That made all the pain come to the surface.

Crying into his drawn up knees he didn't immediately notice the nearby machine explode in a shower of accidental magic. He barely noticed the very old man with the cane coming up to him and kneeling in front of him as the nearby heroes took care of the fire.

The old man at first didn't seem like a nice person but after a few minutes of talking to him he could see that he was kinda like Hagrid. He looked and sounded gruff but he was a good person, someone who cared. Harry could tell from the look in his eyes that he really understood this feeling... this helplessness.

The man eventually got up and he talked under his breath to a man in all black, then he took over the one of the computers. Then abruptly they (himself, another kid with a dog and the old man) were moving. One of his conversations over the computer was with adult Hermione. He was joining another group.

"I spy with my little eye something green." Robin was one of the masked heroes that was already part of the group. He was pale and tired. He was also trying to distract himself. Oddly enough he didn't seem much older then Harry. He was also not the only Robin in the group. The other one was grumbling under his breath, ignoring the game.

"Her." Harry wasn't really part of the game and really didn't want to be part of it but he did want to forget for awhile. He was pointing at the red-headed green girl. Did she get into a magical accident?

The boy with the cape shakes his head, "Nope, try again." his lips twitch up slightly but there was still a sadness about him.

"Err your pants?" it was the only other thing nearby that seemed to be green, it was an almost black shade of it but it was still green.

"Nope... one more try." the boy gives him a slightly devious look but Harry honestly couldn't find anything green.

"I can't see anything else..." he admits with a slight disappointed pout.

The boy reaches into a pocket of his belt and pulls something out. "Look again."

Harry looks down and is met with his own reflection. His eyes.. of coarse. Snorting he hands the mirror back to the other boy.

"I hate I-Spy." a teen with normal clothes says with a scowl. He was wearing a tee-shirt with an 'S' symbol on it and a pair of blue jeans. He looked like he could easily crush someone like Dudley. He also looked very grumpy. The green girl was under his arm leaning into him. Her eyes were puffy.

The boy with the red hair sticking out of the top of his cowl shrugs, He was wearing red and yellow and for some reason everyone was referring to him as 'kid' or 'KF' even though he was older or as old as most of them. "We don't exactly have a deck of cards here Supes and I really want a distraction."

"Hey! Terry said you have magic!" it was the boy Matt that was with Mr. Wayne before he came along. And Terry? He didn't know most of their names but he hasn't yet heard that one, "Can you show us a trick?"

Before he could answer another voice cuts in, "Don't even think about it kid." It was the Red Helmet wearing man leaning against another of the nearby walls. He seemed kinda twitchy.

"We can't have another accident with the terminals. We need as many as possible right now." Another vigilante cuts in explaining kindly. He had a black cowl kinda like Batman's but underneath the cape he was wearing all red.

"I wasn't planning on it." Harry assures them quietly, "The computer exploded because I was upset not because I was playing with my magic."

"It's not surprising. Accidental magic is quiet common at your age, especially if you're upset." the older Hermione was back but beside her was...

"Dad?!" he remembered the image in the mirror of Erised, he looked just like him.

The man shakes his head, "Nope, look at the eyes. I'm one of your counterparts. Hermione told me about you in the halls and I thought I'd help her find someone to take care of you. We can't co-exist I'm afraid." The man looks him up and down for a moment and turns to the middle aged Hermione with a slightly bewildered look on his face, "Was I really that small in first year?"

It hurt a bit to know he wasn't Dad but seeing what he would actually look like as an adult? Kinda brilliant.

Hermione gives his counterpart a bemused smile, "We all were."

His counterpart scrunches up his nose for a second, looking at nothing clearly in deep thought, he looked like he was working something out. "Did you say Dumbledore shoved him into the portal?... The only time I talked to him that year was when I just woke up after the fight with Quirrel..."

The older Hermione suddenly pales and turns to the younger wizard, he was wearing pajamas. He wouldn't be talking to Dumbledore in his pajamas normally, "Harry were you in the hospital wing before you came here?!?"

Harry backs up a bit, eyeing the piece of wood she was pulling out warily, "Yeah but I feel fine. My head only feels a little heavy.." it didn't really occur to him to lie his friend, even if she was really old compared to the girl he knew.

"That's!... That's beside the point! Madam Pomphrey put you on a week's bed rest after that!! You just woke up from a two week coma!!" She screeches at the boy practically pulling out her hair at the disregard he was showing for his health.

The man with the red helmet chuckles drily, "I have to hand it to you kid. Going to another dimension to get out of bed rest is further then any of us have gone. Kudos!"

A couple of the others stifle chuckles at the comment. Majority of them were listening in. It wasn't like they had much of a choice in the matter.

Hermione steps towards the boy, wand raised, the older Harry moves in front her and puts up his hands in a calming motion. "He didn't exactly have a choice in coming here if you remember. We can just summon up a chair or something."

A throat clears behind them, "Harry? I have my things."

Looking over Hermione's shoulder the older Harry smiles at the newcomer, "Ahh Heather! This group was thinking of taking little Harry with them. Hope that's not a problem?"

"Oh... well I'm not part of a group yet... I'm not picky about it to be honest."

Like both Harrys she had messy black hair, thick glasses and bright unnatural green eyes. That was where the similarities ended. 

She looked like she was in her late teens. Her hair was long and done into a low ponytail, her lashes were thick and her eyes were angler. Her face wasn't quite heart shaped, it was a little too sharp for that but there was a soft quality it. It didn't seem to be exactly physical in nature. There was something calming about her. 

"You look like.." little Harry starts..

The witch nods, "... like mum, yes. Well except for dad's raven nest. If I had a knut for every time I've heard that.." she smiles slightly at him, "And you look exactly like dad except.."

"..Mum's eyes." he finishes for her.

"The meeting is almost over," the old man at the terminal interrupts them. "Get ready to be briefed by Nightwing." he turns to the cowl wearing vigilante leaning against the wall. "Shouldn't you be checking something?"

"Oh right!" Red Robin walks over to Heather and holds out his hand, "We have to double check to make sure you can go with us." he informs her unnecessarily.

"Oh of coarse... We shouldn't get attached before that's confirmed." her 'things', that she obviously went to get, consisted of odd trunk with multiple locks and a large picnic basket. She pulls the little pad out of the basket and closes the top, quickly handing it to the younger man.

Looking at the group's readings and hers in turn he nods, "Looks like you can join us." He looks up from the pads, "Will you?"

She doesn't hesitate to nod, "Yes." she leaves her pad with him.

"That's a relief." Hermione sighs out, "I have to head back soon. Heather he's suppose to have another week bed rest, he just woke up from that coma after fighting Quirrel! Please be sensible and makes sure he gets it." she then goes up to the younger Harry and without hesitation gives him a big hug. "I want you to remember that Ron and I love you and want you to have a happy life... I'm sure my counterpart is exactly the same."

Harry sinks into the hug and unable to speak for fear of crying out, he nods.

The middle-aged witch gives him one last squeeze, "Be good for your new sister, do what she says. And I know it's near impossible with it being you, but try to stay out of trouble for a change." she gives him one last smile, turns and leaves with a bounce to her bushy hair.

"I thought she was going to grow out of the 'always follow the rules' thing." Little Harry says with a quiet sigh.

Older Harry barks out a laugh, "Don't let her fool you. Hermione has broken a lot of rules, some of them were actual laws. Ron and I were really bad influences on her." he smiles down at his smaller counterpart a kind of sad air about him, "If you're good maybe Heather will tell you some stories." he chuckles as he claps a hand onto the boy's shoulder and nods to Heather before leaving. He needed to search for a group for himself.

\-----------------------------

The meeting at the primary terminal wrapped up quickly. It was fortunate that the majority of the people involved were highly organized and used to dealing with massive amounts of details on a tight schedule. This was something they had to rush...

"Because of the number of people that need to be moved, each group will be allowed to send out a scouting party into the new dimension. They already assigned dimensional designation for our group." Nightwing informs everyone at the smaller terminal. 

"Assigned?" Aqualad asks incredulously. Shouldn't they have the right to chose?

Nightwing shrugs, "Each world is pretty much the same with minor differences. They were able to pick out the ones that had met some unnatural disaster and are unsuitable for life. No-one's going to those. We don't have time to pick and choose beyond that."

"We only have thirty hours, wouldn't it be easier to just send everyone through to the new universes in complete groups?" Red Robin asks confused.

It was a good question, "An hour in this pocket dimension is about twenty days over on the other side of the portal. We don't have currency or any food source, we don't know the language and we don't have shelter there. It would be a lot easier if we can establish that before all of us go through," The older acrobat answers.

"We also don't know what threats there are on the other side. A smaller group wouldn't draw as much attention." The old Mr. Wayne points out from the computer.

The green clad archer, Artemis nods, "So basically we need to figure out who would be best for a scouting party.."

"We can pretty much eliminate Superboy and Kid Flash right away. Superboy's powers are not subtle and since food is a concern Kid Flash being there early would be counter productive." Aqualad reasons quietly, looking back at his team.

"You going wouldn't be the best idea either," Nightwing informs him, "The main terminal was able to get some pictures from the other side. We didn't see anyone with gills. We could hide them but..."

The leader of the younger team nods. "..Except for fighting, I wouldn't be adding anything needed to the scouting team." he finishes the thought.

"Miss Martian would be the best addition from the 'Young Justice' team. She's able to shape shift, can read minds and she's not as strong as Super-boy but she's far beyond human strength." The old Bruce Wayne points out, almost everyone's abilities were fully listed in the computers for those behind the scene people coordinating the recent battle, "Shape-shifting for stealth, mind reading would greatly assist in learning the language and she's a heavy hitter if the scouting party runs into trouble." he summarizes for them.

"Artemis and I are both trained in stealth and infiltration," the young Justice Robin points out helpfully.

"Almost everyone in this group has that exact same skill set...." Red Hood snorts at him. "Dickhead, has the most experience." he says as he points his thumb at Night-wing behind him.

"Master Hood, language please. There are children present." Alfred reprimands him evenly as he enters the Terminal's bay. He was pushing a cart in front of him. It had a half dozen boxes on it. It was the supplies being provided for the refugees.

He grunts and lets out an annoyed breath, "Sorry Al... sorry kids."

"...Alfred?.." the Young Justice Robin questions, his voice sounding tentative and a little broken.

Alfred pauses and looks at him thoughtfully, "I beg your pardon, young sir. I'm afraid I am not the Alfred Pennyworth that you are acquainted with. I am merely his counterpart. It is however a pleasure to meet you young sir."

"...it's... It's good to see... errr meet you Alfred. Even if you're his counterpart." Robin shifts uneasily but one corner of his mouth lifts in a half timid smile. It didn't hide the slight wobble his mouth was making however.

Kid Flash was beside Robin a split second later, his hand on the younger vigilante's shoulder, clearly trying to comfort him.

Nightwing clears his throat, he knew how loosing Alfred would affect him. It would be magnified a dozen fold at that age. They didn't have time to deal with that type of grief however, "So myself and M'gann so far. Any other suggestions?"

Mr. Wayne grunts and points his cane at the young Batman, "The suit can analyze the environment. It has a significant amount of the equipment of the Bat-cave built into it. It's also good for Stealth. The boy knows how to operate it."

"Down side?" Dick asks knowing there was a hidden 'but' in the sentence.

"He relies on it too much and he's green." Bruce growls out.

The younger Batman, used to being talked about like this just lets out a long sigh, "Yeah... nice to know I'm just the stick figure filling the suit old man."

Bruce ignores him and continues, a small quirk to the side of his mouth, showing he was amused, "He still has potential, in spite of his lack of experience." the others who knew Bruce's alternate self were slightly surprised at these words. Batman usually didn't take the time to say things like that. It was a sign that he really did like the kid.

Suddenly outside the terminal bay another sound reaches the group. It sounded like wailing? It wasn't a surprise but it was very very loud and was coming from a man.

Harry, hearing the noise doesn't hesitate and dashes out of the room. Heather sighs, she recognized the crying as well.

"Hagrid?!?" Harry cries out in the hall. The crying dies down to a more normal level and someone with a growling like voice seemed to be talking to the young wizard. Someone other then the one crying.

A moment later a version of Batman practically stomps into the room. The eyes of his cowl were red and there were strange spike like extensions on the shoulders of his cape. The symbol in the middle of his chest was red and black on a dark grey background. He had a half empty bottle of whiskey in his left hand. There was an air around him that made it clear to everyone that he was very annoyed.

"Whose in charge of your readings?" he growls out.

Kid Flash, the closest one to him, flinches back and automatically points at Red Robin, his eyes wide.

The cowl covered man goes over and takes the pads, looking them over. A moment later he thrusts them back in Red Robin's hands. 

At the door a giant of a man practically squats as he enters the room sideways, being lead by little Harry. Straightening on entering, the man's head brushes the ceiling even as his presence fills the room. He had a big brown bushy beard and small black eyes. There were tears falling from them.

It was almost comical how the extremely small boy was leading the overgrown giant of a man, it was almost like a building sized puppy being lead around.

It was clear to everyone in the room that the giant man was a bleeding heart.

"Can he?" Harry asks the gruff Batman, innocent hope shining in his magnified green eyes.

The Batman grunts, "He's outside range. You'll have to ask them."

Nightwing who was watching the two with a slight bit of amusement puts in his two cents, "If he's actually outside the range, he can join." he pointedly looks at the bottle in the Batman's hand and turns to the gruff Batman, "Are you outside range?"

"No idea." He really didn't care where he ended up at this point. All he wanted was to forget. One of the boy-scouts were bound to grab him before they ditched the pocket dimension. He wasn't lucky enough not to be 'saved'.

He was still next to Red Robin and in turn the computer terminal. "You're outside the range." The old Bruce Wayne informs him from his chair, a pick-pocketed data pad in his hand. "....Dad.." Bruce says quietly gruffly. 

The gruff Batman looks down at the elderly man for a moment, searching his features and grimaces. The other was definitely a version of his son. 

"Will you be joining?" Night-wing asks, the room completely quiet, echoing the question.

"We have quite a few children here. In this new world they might not have doctors. It would be very convenient to have one along." Alfred informs him while going through the boxes of supplies, not even looking up at this alternate version of the man he knew.

The man pauses, looking at the dozen or so costumed vigilante children and teenagers. He grimaces moodily, Alfred was a manipulative bastard but he was right, "Fine" he tightens his hold on his bottle. He moves off to find some quiet corner of the place to finish his drink.

Nightwing watches the old Batman walk off with his bottle and sighs, "Alright lets get back to the scouting party. Miss Martian, newbie Batman," he says this with a bit of humor, "and myself so far... Redhood your experience being on the streets will probably be useful, considering that's where we're starting, that and having someone else good at infiltration wouldn't be bad either."

The Red helmet wearing man snorts, "Yeah.. sure whatever."

Nightwing nods, "... Miss Potter what can you do with your magic? Can you just do attacks or is it a diverse ability?"

She was over by the giant man patting him on the shoulder, he was sitting on a large patch of the floor now hugging little Harry who was trying to calm him down, the giant was crying quietly now at least. "Highly diverse. It's not a question of what I can do, it's a question of what I can't do."

"Food? Water?" Nightwing asks all business, listing two of the most urgent needs.

"I can't create Food from nothing, my magic doesn't work that way, it would have all the nutrients of Air. I can however multiply what food you do find. I can also preserve food magically in a type of stasis. The water issue is easier, I can produce it with a quick and easy spell." she informs him. "It would only take a moment to teach Harry the spell but doing that here wouldn't exactly be a good idea."

"Any other needs you can fill with your ability?" Night-wing asks.

"I don't know any translation spells. As for infiltration, spying, observing other people... well there is so many things I CAN do to help in that regard, I can't even begin to list them all."

"...and the down side?" the old Mr. Wayne asks waiting for the other shoe to drop.

The young woman shifts a little uneasily, "Well... my magic has a negative effect on electronic systems and equipment... especially high level circuitry." she was looking pointedly at the young Batman in the advanced fighting suit. ".. I also have to rely on my wand quite a bit. It's required for everything but the most practiced of spell work. Magic, if miscast somehow, can also cause permanent effects. It's rare and usually happens to the inexperienced but I'm not immune to causing it, noone with my type of magic is."

The elderly man nods and turns to Nightwing and Terry, "Keep her away from the suit and keep her out of combat if you can." he growls out already knowing their choice. "Try to find ways where we don't have to depend on her abilities."

Nightwing nods, "I think that's enough people for now. Lets get some supplies and get ready."

\-------------------

"Are you the group going into number eighty eight?" it was one of the technicians working on the portals to the other multiverse. 

Each separate universe they were settling into had an assigned number.

"Yep that's us." They were gathered in the main chamber. Each one of them had a large backpack with food, sleeping bags, and other misc. supplies. Not all of them had luggage from their own world so the Earths that survived sent provisions.

"Your scheduled departure time is almost here. Does your party have any questions or do you need anything more?" the tech asks professionally.

"No I don't think.." Nightwing starts.

"Yeah we do need something..." growls out a voice.

The older gruff Batman was suddenly there looming over the tech. "We need our long term medical supplies." he growls out.

"Uhh sir... I... " he quickly looks down at the pad scanning the information, "It says here that the ... medications are to be given to a member of your group that isn't... obvious about their ummm substance abuse, sir! I'm only following orders!" 

Thomas Wayne glares at the tech, "I'm an alcoholic not a drug addict. Not to mention a doctor. I'm not going to pump myself full of anti-biotics idiot."

Nightwing puts an arm between the poor tech and the old Batman, cutting in pointedly, looking at the tech, "Hey he's with us. How about you give us the provisions. We can deal with any issues that crop up."

The tech nods quickly and speeds away presumptuously to get the medications for the medical kit.

"Damn it Dick! I wanted to see Grampa make that guy piss himself." Redhood says with a bit of humor in his voice.

Nightwing shakes his head, "Don't you get enough of that on patrol? Besides we're leaving soon. We don't have time."

"Don't call me Grampa, Punk." The old Batman growls out ignoring Nightwing.

"Sure, Gramps." Redhood snorts and turns to Nightwing, "This is SO going to be fun..."

Dick turns to the older Batman before Jason could antagonize him further, "You didn't stay for the meeting. We're going on a scouting mission before we settle on the other side. The main group isn't joining us until later. There's a time difference. An hour here is a couple weeks there."

"So what about you rest up, Gramps. I'm sure Timmy can find another chair so you can sit with the other old man." Dick groans as the older Batman steps towards Redhood. "...wouldn't want you to throw out a hip." he adds a little to gleefully.

It happened lightning fast, one second the older man was glaring down at Hood the next a balled up armored gauntlet was buried in Hood's ribs. There was a distinctive snap.

The older vigilante steps back a sinister smile on his face. "Respect your elders punk."

Hood lets out a slightly pained laugh and turns to Nightwing, "Grampa is nastier then our Batman. I like him." Hood's hand lashes out and lands a hit in the old man's jaw before he can blink, staggering the old Batman backwards.

Nightwing grabs Hood before he can go any further. The younger Batman grabs ahold of the older Batman.

M'gann turns to Heather, "Is this some sort of Earth bonding ritual I don't know about?"

"It's a pissing contest." the witch answers with a sigh.

"Is there a problem?" it was one of the Supermen. The four struggling vigilantes pause at the voice, their heads turning in unison.

"Uhh no.. not really. We're just ...bonding with the grandfather we never met. Well if you count him as our grandfather, his alternate son adopted us," Nightwing tells him conversationally, "These two haven't shot each other... so it's going pretty well." he says honestly and perhaps alittle too optimistically.

The Superman lets out a sigh, "Save the bonding for planet side please. We don't need to accidentally destroy anything."

Redhood snorts as Nightwing slowly lets him go as the young newbie Batman eases away from the doctor. "Boy-scout." the old Batman says with a sneer and Hood barks out another laugh.

The Superman pauses but pointedly keeps walking away.

"Mr. Nightwing, sir!" It was the tech he saved from years of therapy, "I have the provisions. Just in time too... you're scheduled to enter the portal in just under" he looks down at his data pad, "five minutes?"

The provisions were in a large steel crate on a push cart. It was too large for them to carry... maybe? "Miss Martian do you think you can..." he vaguely points to the cart. It was obvious the tech expected them to take the crate with the cart. He didn't have any experience with portals it seems.

"If you have some rope or something. It shouldn't be too heavy but I need something to grab onto. Otherwise it'll be awkward to hold." the girl reasons.

The younger Batman pulls something out of a hidden pocket, "I have a harness that can go around it, if you want to carry it.... or I can carry it if you don't want to. The suit's strength is enhanced."

"They're almost ready for us. Get it done." Nightwing orders them pointedly and turns to Thomas, "We're going ahead. Is there anything that you want us to keep an eye out for over there?"

"Don't bother, I'm going." he says in a tone that Nightwing knew far to well. There wasn't going to be any arguing with him.

The acrobat rubs his temple. "Fine." he says, sending a quick message to the others, mentioning the new addition of the older Batman.

"Number eighty-eight. The portal is ready." Time to go to a new world...


	2. Welcomed Friends, old Bats and Minions!!

The man smiles politely at Red Robin as he hands over the data pad. "I was told that the Batman from my universe was the sole surviving hero and that he was joining your group? I was also told that all people from the same universe has to go to the same place?" 

Red Robin was gaping openly. He blinks a moment later, what the man said takes a moment to reach him, "Umm.. Uhh Yeah maybe. Just.. let me check the readings." He quickly flips through them but glances up once or twice trying but failing to be subtle.

The Robin with the swords and the blond Batgirl was openly staring at the man like he was some sort of weird specimen and the redhead woman in the wheelchair was watching him in clear amusement.

He had the feeling that he was missing something vital. "I was surprised that my world's Batman took the initiative to actually join a group. He's not exactly someone who joins others willingly or quickly. I was certain that someone would have to... well not force but convince him to go with them..." he pointedly doesn't fidget at the continued stares.

"Well everything seems to be in order... You do belong to his world." Red Robin says, ".. I guess you're joining us?" 

The man nods, the people in the room couldn't help but notice the calm almost peaceful air about him.

Batgirl steps forward her head tilted and a slight smile on her face now, "Sir... umm might I ask how did you get here? Not that you shouldn't be here... I mean.. umm well you know what I mean." she babbles.

"Yes my being here is probably rather peculiar to you." he says kindly, "It's unfortunate but my version of Earth was in a horrible state. Most of the Heroes were killed during a massive world war. Batman couldn't find many heroes to go with him so he decided to seek out alternate help. He brought me to help console the grieving. Considering how occupied I've been it was probably a good idea on his part."

"And your help is certainly appreciated ... Father Todd." Oracle says not bothering to hide her amusement, she turns and rolls back to the computer console, but turns and addresses Red Robin, "The medical wing is sending someone over. They think it's someone else who belongs to our group."

Red Robin starts but nods in acknowledgement.

The priest's eyes widen slightly as he puts the couple of clues they gave him together. He didn't introduce himself but she knew his name. "Ahh, I was wondering why I was being stared at. I thought it was because I was a little out of place here. So you know a counterpart of myself?" he asks a note of amazement in his voice.

Another woman in a Batgirl like suit nods, "Our brother." she says shortly, it's the first thing she's said the whole time. Her entire face was covered so the priest couldn't see her expression.

Red Robin gives him a slight smile, "He isn't exactly the Priest type."

Father Todd hums in amusement, "You'd be surprised. I look forward to meeting him." he says conversationally.

"Excuse me Oracle?" it was one of the techs, he was pushing a gurney. There was a small figure unconscious on the movable bed.

"There you are. Red Robin is checking readings, let him double check and make sure the kid belongs with us." she tells the man.

"Another kid?" Kid Flash asks curiously, "I've never seen him before." he says looking over at what he could estimate to be a nine to twelve year old child.

"He's probably from someone else's universe." Aqualad guesses.

Red Robin snorts going over the boy's readings, he turns to the tech, "Yeah he belongs with us. Give us the details of his condition."

"We couldn't find anything wrong with him so the docs had some magical members check him out. Apparently he burned out from some magical mystical force.... thing. He still has some magic according to the 'witch doctor'.." the tech makes quotation marks, ".. so according to them he'll be fine with a couple of days bed rest, he's just not going to be able to do a lot with what magic he does have. Here's his file, if you have any questions I suggest hunting down the magicals that examined him. Their names and group numbers are listed."

"Okay thanks for the help. We'll look this over." Red Robin says automatically handing the file over to Bruce at the computer station as the tech hurries off, no doubt rushing to do some other task.

"Okay I may have missed it but who is the kid again?" Artemis asks pointedly.

"Billy Batson." Mr Wayne informs her without looking up, "If you want to know more you'll have to wait till he wakes up. And he is from your universe."

Kid Flash tilts his head in confusion, "But the League, our group and a couple other supers were the only ones that came from our universe."

"Maybe his magic backfired and turned him into a little kid?" Aqualad suggests.

"Maybe but sense this is magic were talking about, this could be his secret identity!" Robin enthusiastically, "We can eliminate most of the league just by the nature of their powers."

"Aquaman, Etrigan, Captain Marvel, John Constantine, Zatara, and Wonder Woman are the ones with magic that managed to come with us." Aqualad says quietly.

"Constantine and Zatara don't have Secret Identities. Wonder Woman's secret identity isn't that of a little boy. I've seen her under her identity." Robin reasons.

"My king doesn't.... didn't really have a secret identity either." Aqualad adds correcting himself mid-sentence. "And he wasn't exactly skilled with much magic." 

"So that means either Etrigan or Captain Marvel. He could be Jason Blood de-aged except he has another name." Robin says pointedly to the older Bruce Wayne, who spilled those beans, "So this can't be Etrigan. So unless we missed something he's probably Captain Marvel!"

"-TT-, Took you long enough." The sword wielding Robin sneers rudely. "It's a wonder how any of you survived the battle with how incompetent you obviously are."

Red Robin sighs deeply, "They're talking about people they knew and lost, Robin. It's understandable to be a little slow on the uptake when it's painful to think about them. Stop trying to pick a fight."

"He's being a bully." the little boy named Matt points out, glaring at the sneering Robin.

Harry who was laying down on a sleeping bag someone fetched out of the traveling supplies adds his two cents, "It's a unpleasant thing to say but it's not bullying. Reminds me of someone I know though... All he needs is a British accent, blond hair and to say something about his father every other sentence and it could be him."

"Give him time, he hasn't said more then two sentences. I'm sure he has a one-liner about his father ready to come out soon." Red Robin says with a bit of humor.

"Like you're one to talk. I'm not the one who pathetically stalked my father, Drake." Robin retorts ignoring the fact he did in fact say something about his father...

Red Robin goes to say something else but Black Bat steps up and puts a finger to his lips. "You're the Boss right now. Be nice."

He snorts but nods, "Alright, I'll stop." he turns to Robin again though, "...no names in the field." he quickly reprimands but it didn't really have any heat to it. 

"Wait, Drake?" The Young Justice Robin asks, "Timmy?!?"

The older vigilante sighs and chuckles, "Yeah, It's a long story."

Not really noticed by anyone the older Bruce Wayne gives Red Robin a pain filled glance but quickly goes back to the medical report.

"You're way older, like almost an adult... so that means..." Robin trails off his eyes wide.

"Rob... Oh man. That guy, Red Hood called Nightwing Dickhead." Kid Flash says snickering under his breath.

Robin snorts and elbows the other boy, "Don't repeat that, there are kids here." he says pointedly in an attempt to distract the others from figuring it out.

"Don't bother. I think we're far beyond keeping Identities secret, Dick." comes a voice from the computer terminal.

"Oracle!" Tim exclaims sounding scandalized.

The red head chuckles, "Tim, everyone left on the station is going to completely new worlds. Keeping our identities secret at this point is completely useless. Do you honestly think we're not going to share when we get to the other side?"

Tim opens his mouth to reply but closes it a second later and gives her an annoyed pout. "... You should still let people make their own choices, Babs." 

A look of recognition passes over Dick's face. He didn't really pay attention to the lady at the terminal earlier. There were hundreds of familiar people around the place after all. 

Not even realizing it he gets onto his feet and finds himself beside the alternate version of his friend, a look of heartfelt pain on his face.

Sensing someone beside her, Barbara turns and with a glance understands. At his age they were the best of friends and he had just lost her... someone he had just started to love beyond that of a friend and now never truly will.

Not even thinking she reaches for him, pulls him down onto her lap and hugs him. Dick buries his head into the crook of her neck and the fragile dam that was holding back all his grief bursts apart. Child like sobs break free from his throat while Barbara rides out the storm of his grief, rubbing his back and murmuring reassurances.

The sobs last for awhile but finally slow and are replaced with sniffling, his face still buried in the crook of her neck.

"Richard Grayson, you better not wipe snot on me." she says quietly, sternly after awhile.

A surprised laugh escapes the boy and he lifts his head, he gives her a wobbly but genuine smile. "Would I honestly ever do that to you Babs?"

"Yes." she says without hesitation.

He chuckles lightly but it becomes a bit pained after a moment, "... thank you." he says his voice sounding a bit choked up.

"It's okay kid. I understand... we all understand at this point." she says quietly. She nudges him. Without a word he stands. Barbara points to the computer terminal. "... I need to get back to work."

" kay" he nods and walks back to this friends. No one says anything about his breakdown. Most of them went through the same and they knew it was only a matter of time until one of them had another.

\-----------------------

The terminal quiets down for awhile, the kids doze or talk among themselves, the sound of typing dominates the area.

Another caped Batman enters the room like a wraith, a heavy scowl on his face, the very air near burning with the anger that was practically radiating off of him. "Exactly, what do you think you're doing?!?" he growls out at the older version of himself. Mr. Wayne was still at the computer terminal. A dozen other heroes enter behind Batman, including two Supermen, all of them were on the defensive eyeing the computer terminal and the elderly man in the chair like he was a supervillian.

"Computer enact protocol, Alpha." he says quickly, decisively before anyone even thinks of stopping him.

"Computer cancel protocol, Alpha." Batman counters.

"Computer Protocol 'Alpha' active." the computer states in a feminate but metallic voice. "Password for Cancellation of 'Alpha' protocol incorrect."

Red Robin moves quickly grabbing the old man, securing his arms. He didn't know what was going on but he trusted his own Batman before this older one.

".... Mr. Wayne?" Matt cries out in confusion. Kid Flash speeds behind the kid and grabs him, keeping him at a safe distance from the confrontation, not that it was likely to become very physical...

Superboy likewise steps forward and grabs the collar of Ace who was about to lunge at the group threatening his master.

The station suddenly starts to shake, causing the heroes to cry out in alarm, many of them loosing their footing. Red mars light flash through the halls, alerts popping up on the screens.

Batman quickly takes over the old man's seat, typing, going through the readings. He looks closely at the energy levels of the station, the elderly man was for some reason draining the energy maintaining the pocket dimension.

"What are you trying to accomplish?" he grinds out, his eyes narrowed, turning, glaring at the man.

The old man gives his younger counterpart a crooked smile, "Trying? There is no trying. I've already accomplished my goal." 

The entire station shakes again, the lights dimming for a moment.

"Batman sir!" it was someone on the intercom, someone from the main terminal.

"Go ahead" he says through the link.

"An unauthorized portal just opened up sir! It's another pocket dimension! There's people inside.." the panicked technician shouts.

The elderly man grunts, "If you don't get them out of it, they're going to die soon." he states calmly, already knowing that they weren't going to let them die.

Almost all the heroes in the room sprint towards the portal's entry point, not even pausing to ask questions.

The portal room was in a panic, others not knowing what was going on but trying to understand the readings they were getting from the terminals.

"GET THEM OUT OF THERE!!" One of the vigilantes shout towards the others... "IT'S GOING TO COLLAPSE ANY MINUTE!"

Not hesitating heroes converge on the portal pulling unconscious figures onto the station. They finish just as the portal's sides wobble then fizzle out in a flash of broken arcs of electricity, collapsing in on itself.

The room breaths a sigh of relief even as technicians go back to their stations.

"The portal took out most of the station's energy, Batman. Our timetable is going to have to be moved forward. We only have ten hours until complete collapse." one of the techs calls out.

The people from the portal were waking, sitting up, shaking their heads, and blinking at there surroundings with confusion or awe. Over half of them were in black and white futuristic uniforms, police officers. There were a couple people in bindings of some sort and more that looked like outright civilians.

An officer blinks up at Batman in surprise, "Where are we?"

\-----------------------

There were ninety three new additions to the group, Forty nine of which were police officers. The entire group (including those at the other terminal) were going to be transferred to one of the larger computer stations.

At the moment there were only about twenty of them at the larger terminal. The station doctors were checking over the new group of refugees making sure none of them had anything wrong with them.

The elderly Bruce Wayne was maneuvered onto a bench along a wall and had his hands put in a set of unpickable bindings They were the type that kept a person's fingers completely immobile. The larger terminal's vocal receptors were turned off and the man was being kept well away from the computers.

"You could have killed us all." Batman growls at him.

The older man glares right back at his counterpart, completely unrepentant, "I had everything under control. I know what I was doing."

"You could have warned us. We would have had a lot more time and energy left, as it is we're barely going to have enough time to get out of here before the station collapses!" he snarls at him.

The old man shakes his head, "I wasn't going to risk them saying no. Besides they're 'heroes' they can deal with a little time crunch." 

"Hey! Don't just blame Mr. Wayne!" a dark skinned pink haired teenager walks over standing slightly in front of the bound elderly man, she was one of the people that came through the portal, "If.. If Mr. Wayne did something wrong... then that makes me his ..henchman!" she declares boldly.

"Accomplice..." someone nearby corrects her under their breath, not willing to get in the middle of the argument like she just did.

"How are you involved?" Batman demands, his voice like gravel.

The teenager twitches nervously but lifts her chin bravely, refusing to cower, "Mr. Wayne was able to send word before our Earth was destroyed. We only had a few minutes to get into the temporary dimension he created. It only had enough room for a few people. There was no time to pick and choose so I just grabbed the group of friends I was with, got them onto a city bus then I hijacked it.... I made as much of a mess as I could and got the police following..."

A male police officer that was standing nearby decides to step forward and report their side of things, "The commissioner ordered every available patrol car to follow the bus, including the ones with perps in the back. When we got to Mr. Wayne's she order us to grab everyone there and do what the girl said." the officer points at the teen, "We were told it was some sort of emergency?"

Max nods along to his account, "I lead them to the portal entry point. I ordered them to get in. I didn't tell them what was going on.." the girl finishes, "So basically... I'm just as at fault for this." 

The group didn't know the situation yet... at least the majority of them didn't..

This was going to be a nightmare. Heroes handling this situation was one thing but an entire group of everyday people suddenly loosing everything, some of them armed no less... It was a recipe for disaster..

Another group of the recent refugees, about ten people, enter the terminal area. A red-headed woman a few years shy of middle-aged spots the older Bruce Wayne and hurriedly makes her way over.

The woman doesn't hesitate. There's a distinctive snap as the woman's fist flies breaking Mr. Wayne's nose.

Thunderous shaking, tears running down her face, the woman draws back, burning the elderly man with a enraged glare. "Where... are... MY... Boys..??"

"Mrs. McGinnis!! They're safe! Mr. Wayne saved them... " Max exclaims shocked at the older woman.

Mrs. McGinnis takes in a calming breath, clearly keeping herself from lashing out at him again, "Don't defend him Max. He called and told me that Matt was trapped and DYING and then HUNG UP without explanation!"

The old man grunts, blinking a few times to clear his eye sight, "I did what needed to be done." he says evenly, barely acknowledging the hit.

Max gets between her and the old man, holding her hands up in a calming gesture, "He really did Mrs. McGinnis. If he didn't do that... you wouldn't have rushed as fast as you did... Terry and Matt would have lost you!"

"Max as far as I'm concerned she has every right to hit me, probably more times then I can count." he states calmly, not even phased. 

The teenager gives him her own glare, "You are SO not helping.."

"Matthew will be here soon. Terry is currently securing supplies for the smaller group,"He informs the mother. He then turns to his younger counterpart. "Nothing can be done about what I did. My actions are in the past and you have only a limited amount of time to do what you need to do." he points out.

"I'm not leaving you two unguarded." Batman points out bluntly. 

As if on cue, Red Robin and the Robin with the swords enter the room. Behind them were the others from the other terminal. Oracle had a screen hoovering in front of her, busy with something to do with the station while Black Bat was pushing her wheelchair to the larger terminal's computer station. Ace the dog had a muzzle and leash on now but was still growling deep in his throat.

"Ace, stand down.." the old man orders the dog. The dog immediately stops growling, stands straight and turns to him. "Good boy.." 

"Robin." Batman says pointedly to the boy with the swords. The small vigilante walks over without hesitation, "I want you to guard these two. Keep them away from the computers. I don't suspect that they'll do more but don't underestimate them, they caused more then enough trouble today." he orders the boy gravely.

"Yes, Father." he agrees immediately, training his eyes on the two. He narrows his eyes at the girl, the more mobile and unrestrained of the two. He reaches into one of his pouches and pulls out a set of handcuffs in the shape of bats. "Sit down next to him and make no sudden moves."

Max lifts a incredulous brow and turns to Mr. Wayne, "Is he actually being serious?"

"I'd do what he asks if I were you Max." the man advises blandly, "Just because he's young doesn't mean he can't fight."

The teen lets out an exaggerated sigh and sits down next to Mr. Wayne. She holds her hands out in front of her towards the sword wielding kid, "You know before I met you, I was perfectly law abiding, straight A student. Now look at me! Just today I've kidnapped nearly forty people, stole a city bus, broke hundreds of traffic laws, was an accomplice to breaking inter-dimensional space/time laws that the government made to deter the creation of SUPERVILLIANS and now I'm being cuffed by someone who hasn't hit puberty yet."

The old man was leaning back against the metal wall, his eyes closed clearly taking a moment to rest, his face rough like weathered wood, he grunts, "You're a good minion." he complements after a moment, the corner of his mouth quirked.

"Not a minion... I'm a Henchman... or Hench-woman." she says with a pout as the cuffs click closed around her wrists, "If I'm going to be labeled as supervillain 'help' I am NOT going to be called a minion!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly think this whole chapter is complete Crack. I did not plan this!! I was stuck (because I can't decide where to insert the party in Skyrim) and was just going to write a bit of what was happening on the station pocket dimension thingy in order to work through it and it SNOWBALLED into a unexpected chapter. So I'm pretty sure Damian's nickname for Max is going to be Uncle's Minion (because the Elderly Bruce Wayne would be considered a brother of his father) or just Minion for short. Basically because it would annoy or piss her off and he likes to give people those type of names.
> 
> I wasn't planning on adding Father Todd either or Billy... this whole chapter was a surprise to me... I'm pretty sure some of the characters are OOC at places... which annoys me like you couldn't believe... I tried to fix it.. and it didn't work.. 
> 
> 0_0
> 
> Anyways give me some feedback! I think I need it..


	3. To Skyrim we go...

Going through the portal wasn't like just going through a door. It was more comparable to a whirlwind trip through a long hallway of swirling and dancing physical thoughts, colors and vague impressions. Reaching the end a slim film washes over them. It was comparable to being yanked out of water or perhaps jumping into it, similar to going from blasting cold to blistering heat but it was distinctly something else.

With his stomach rolling Dick, along with the others, fall out of the chaotic portal into a new world. It was a relief. For a few moments between the shifting realities he was seriously concerned. He couldn't see anything in the swirling mass but while inside he felt something, something looking at them, judging them. Expertly sweeping his hands over himself Dick finds, to his relief, only an extra bruise or two.

"Is everyone alright?" Dick asks.

Their landing wasn't exactly easy but it could have been worse. It could have been into a jagged bed of rocks instead of a wet snowdrift.

"We're fine." M'gann says helping Heather up from the ground. Her voice sounded a bit shaken. The young Batman was already on his feet.

"I probably should have wrapped my ribs before going through that." Jason says with a hiss.

They were on the side of a small mountain,surrounded by grey jagged stone covered in mounds of ice and snow. In the distance Dick could just see an old fashioned sawmill across a large lake at the base of the mountain. The entire area around the lake was forested. There were a couple large jagged boulders breaking the surface of the water forming small islands in the middle of the lake. 

The peak of the mountain they were on was in back of them and in front of them in the distance they could just make out the lake surrounded by trees. Much of their view was blocked by a treeline from the lower slopes of the mountain.

They were surrounded by snow peaked mountains, a crisp cold air was blowing all around them.The singing of birds could be heard from the forested area near the water.  
It was breathtakingly beautiful.

Dismissing it as unimportant, for the moment, Dick moves to his brother's side and gets him to sit on a nearby flat boulder. If someone saw them come through the portal they needed to be ready to met the possible threat.

"When we went through the portal was I the only one who felt like a..." the young Batman trails off clearly looking for the right words.

"...Like we were under a microscope? No." Bruce's alternate father growls out, not at all happy.

M'gann was shaking slightly, "I couldn't feel what it was. It felt like I was a fly looking up at a mountain. It was... it was just too big."

"There's nothing we can do about it. All we can do is keep an eye out for whoever or whatever they are and hope they're not a threat." Dick points out helping his brother out of his helmet, Kevlar plated shirt and jacket. Dick quickly sets and starts to wrap his brother's ribs with practiced ease.

"Not a bad place to land. Except for that sawmill on the other side of the lake we're pretty much out of view of anyone." Jason says with a wince.

It didn't take a genius to know that keeping a low profile was essential at this point. 

The teen-aged Batman goes over to a solid looking stone and pulls out a wooden spoon sized black metal object. It had a claw type attachment on one end, the other end was sharp and pointed. It had multiple buttons along the length. 

He doesn't hesitate and stabs the pointed end into the rock.

"What is that?" Dr. Wayne grunts indicating the unnamed object.

The teenager flips open a computer console on his forearm, "It's an advance survey probe. It's part of a kit the league from my time uses to scout alien worlds. There's a couple dozen of them per kit. When we were recruited for the fight Mr. Wayne provided the station with the kits. He sent thousands of them. He made sure that it was part of the standard supplies for everyone. At least one was put in each standard supply pack."

Red Hood snorts and looks at the eight backpacks on the ground next to the teen, the old man really overloaded the kid. It made sense considering how much he could carry with the suit, "So how many of these kits did he end up giving you?"

"At least eight." he states blandly, "Who knows what else he packed in the first two. I'm pretty sure he sent at least a couple dozen chores along with whatever is in them."

Nightwing nods at this, "What's are the functions of the probe?"

"It does pretty much everything. It gathers basic weather information, looks for signs of local wildlife, and keeps track of anything it finds. It scans for radio signals and records them. It's best feature is when you use many of them together." He shows them the display screen hovering over his arm. "If you put them every few miles in every direction they map the area and they create a solid communication network for everyone with a communicator."

Something on the computer screen flashes. The teen turns it back to himself and scans the incoming information. "And it's not working right..." he says with an annoyed huff.

Redhood snorts out a half laugh, "You actually expected something that useful to go our way without effort? That old man was right, you are green."

The teen rolls his eyes but doesn't reply to the taunt. He looks over the readings and types a couple commands. "An unknown energy source is interfering. The sensor part is working it's the communication part that's having the problems. With the signal deterioration rate I go more then a quarter mile from it and I won't be able to pick up it's signal. The normal range is more then ten miles per probe. I'll have to work on it some."

He takes out a small kit from his belt and opens the side panel. The others start shrugging off backpacks and putting them to a side.

Jason was just about to try to put on his Kevlar-lined shirt, when a spoon enters his sight, "What's this?" Miss Potter had a bottle that was in the shape of a human skeleton in her hand and a spoon of liquid held out to Jason in the other. He saw her messing with something in her trunk out of the corner of his eye a moment ago but he didn't think anything of it.

The green eyed young woman gives him a pained smile, "It's called skelegrow. It's one of the rare potions I have left over after all the fighting. There isn't much need to regrow entire bones after the battle." she says in explanation, "I don't know how to heal bones but if they're set properly this will heal over the break in a few hours."

Jason reluctantly takes the spoon from her. The mixture was gritty and milky white, it reminded him heavily of mud. Taking a small sniff, he couldn't help but be reminded vaguely of vinegar and grass, "This tastes disgusting doesn't it?"

Miss Potter grimaces, "Best to just down it as fast a possible."

Jason didn't like trusting virtual strangers but she did fight in the battle. Everyone who fought deserved at least a little trust. A moment of disgust would be better then weeks of pain and trouble sleeping. Broken ribs were a pain.

Before he could think about it, he reaches up, pinches his nose and downs the full spoon of liquid. He quickly moves his hand from his nose to his mouth and fights down the boiling urge to expel his internal organs.

It takes a couple minutes but after winning the battle with his stomach he holds the empty spoon out to her with a scowl on his face. "That was the most disgusting thing I have ever put in my mouth and I used to live and eat off the streets... What was in that?"

She shrugs, "I don't know all the ingredients off the top of my head but.... I know there's armadillo bile, dragon liver, preserved rat flesh, oh and dandelions." she lists quietly giving him a small but pained smile.  
"Funny." Jason says with a snort, clearly not believing her. He turns to put his armor back on, so he doesn't see her blink at the response and her sympathetic smile become outright amused.

Dick, who was watching the exchange, doesn't miss the slight amusement on the witch's face. 'Note to self: Only drink if death is the alternative.'

Turning back to the group, Dick couldn't help pausing. It didn't take a great detective to know that this wasn't going to be a walk in a park. Every single person in the party was a walking time bomb.  
Miss Potter, was the sole survivor of her Earth. The group as a whole didn't have any counters for magic.. except for her. They didn't have anyone to turn to if she lost control of herself here. They'll have to keep an eye on her and be prepared to knock her out if she starts to lose control.

Miss Martian had the rest of 'Young Justice' team but she was going to be the only one of her kind on this planet. She lost all her family, most notably her mentor and species. How long will it take for her to come to terms with it? Will her friends be enough to pull her through? How will everyone's grieving effect her, especially with her telepathy? They may have to create a contingency plan to get her away from the group for her own mental health.

Thomas Wayne, another Earth's Batman, was alarming in his own way. The man was a clear alcoholic. The ease in which he finished that bottle, the lack of signs that he was in any way under the influence of anything. He was displaying clear signs of long term substance abuse. Along with the guns at his side, it painted a rather nasty picture. How long has he been an alcoholic? Did the guns mean he uses lethal force? What drove him to be Batman? Did Bruce die in crime alley instead? Has he been like this ever since? 

All he dared to hope of the old man, was that he might be like Bruce when it comes to grief. Bruce tended to push people away... would Thomas Wayne do the same if Bruce died? Did he have anyone when his world ended?

It was a depressing thought but if he was alone maybe this disaster actually would help the man. Dick was certain that the two Bruces, would fight for the man.

Then there's the young Batman. He saw enough of his interaction with the boy 'Matt' to know he was very important to him. He had someone to fight for and he seemed stable at the moment... about as stable as himself at least. It was clear that he didn't have as much experience but he might be good for backup if a problem cropped up in the group. But him acting stable now didn't mean he wouldn't become a problem later when the reality of what happened hits him. How many people did he loose? Did he have family and friends beyond the boy 'Matt'?

And of course there was Jason. Jason had the family but his relationship with the family has always been rather chaotic. Jason just lost most of his friends, friends that went with him through thick and thin. He seemed to be trying to keep himself from thinking of it. Maybe he realized that out of the survivors he was luckier then most.

And then there was himself. Dick knew he was lucky. He had Bruce, Alfred, Babs, all his siblings. Yes he lost far too much but he was lucky to have his family. Out of everyone here he was perhaps the luckiest of them all. 

It meant he had to be the stable one... the voice of reason, the one to keep them focused on mission. This was too important to mess up. It didn't mean that he couldn't break down at the wrong moment ...  
"Put everything you can't immediately fight with over there." Dick points to a large outcropping of boulders. It was out of the way and it could hide most of what they brought. 

The station had some standard supply bags for the scouting parties at the portals. Each one of them grabbed at least one. Most grabbed two. The younger Batman, not burdened with the medical supply chest and only two normal backpacks, was still able to pick up a massive amount of weight. He had a backpack on his back, front and managed to get the shoulder straps of an additional three for each arm on him. A total of eight bags of supplies from just him.

Shaking his head at the remembered image, Dick takes out his binoculars and starts scanning the distance. If anyone saw them come out of the portal... they most likely would be either heading this way or watching.

It was either late evening or early morning, so it was possible that the light from the portal was visible from far away. It was also probably the best time for the portal. At the first and last moments of day the light from the sun tended to reflect off of large surfaces like lakes and make odd lights shine in places it usually wouldn't.

Not seeing anyone he turns back to the others.

"Alright we should figure out a plan." Dick turns to Bruce's alternate father, "Are you staying with us Doctor or are you going off on your own?"

The man pauses in thought. This was an unknown world with unknown dangers. It was a clear risk to leave the group but he'd be alone and able to move faster. On the other hand staying with the group meant having to deal with these kids, some of them an alternate version of his son, cared for deeply... like a father would. "I'll stick with the group for now." he says gruffly, ignoring that ever existing hollow feeling in his chest that made itself known any time he thought of his long dead son. There were strength in numbers, better to be together. 

Dick nods, he expected something like that, "If you break off from the group, I'd appreciate if you give us some warning. I don't want to send out a search party if you're not in trouble."

The doctor snorts at the request but doesn't object to it.

The teen aged Batman was still working on the advanced survey probe that he wanted to set up.

"Let's put that on the back burner for now. If there's a threat in the area we need to find it immediately." Nightwing states looking back at the area they landed in. 

Miss Martian was hovering a foot above the ground, she lands next to the others, "I haven't seen many nature shows. What are we suppose to do first? I know our long term goals but we didn't really go over a plan..." she points out curiously.

"It be best if we start with basic wilderness survival," the older Batman points out, "Find a safe spot to set up a couple tents so we have somewhere to retreat if the weather gets bad, make a fire for warmth and cooking, then look for a water source, then find food..."

Nightwing nods, "We have food and water for right now. Shelter and a fire are the immediate priorities. We're not far up this mountain but over half of it is covered in snow. It's either in the winter seasons or we're in a naturally cooler climate." he knew he was thinking out loud but he didn't know everyone here yet. Better to point out the obvious now and figure out how good the others were at observation later.

"Fire isn't really an issue." Heather points out holding out her hand. There was a small flicker of flame hovering above her palm. "Dry wood is the issue."

Redhood looks over the stone ridge towards the edge of the lake. "There's some ruins down in the water. There's a lot of underbrush down there. We can set up the tents between that and the mill. We should be out of sight, even with a fire."

The younger Batman turns from the probe back to the group, "I think we should break up and do different jobs. Since I know how it works, I should work on getting the probe to operate right. It'll give us a radio signpost of where the portal will open again. If we have to leave the area in a hurry we might need it."

"Kid has a point," the doctor says to his alternate son's oldest. Nightwing was clearly the leader of the group. If someone else wanted to field all the issues involved in herding the group, he wasn't going to complain. If they weren't an idiot that was going to get them killed, why should he interfere. It was one less thing he'd have to worry about.

Nightwing glances up at the sky. It was getting dark. It wasn't dawn then... it was dusk. "Don't work on it for more then an hour." he warns the young Batman, after dark it would be best if they stayed together. He turns to the rest, "Next to those ruins will have to do for now. Let's go."

\-------------------------------

Hours go by, the fire smoldered in the center of the camp. They only set up three of the tents. Nightwing and Redhood in one, the teen bat and the Doctor in another, and the final one for M'gann and Miss Potter.

It was agreed that at least half the group would stay awake at any given time. The other tents were packed away in the event they had to leave at a moment's notice.

They heated up a basic meal of some sort of canned stew right before the sun went down. Because of the unknown environment they didn't want a highly visible fire, so they let it die down to a pile of soft glowing embers.

They could hear animals in the underbrush. There were definitely wolves in the area. Howls echoed in the distance. More then one set of night vision goggles were watching the surrounding forest.  
For the last few hours there wasn't any talk between any of them except for the basics to get their individual jobs done. They all were too tired...too burnt out from the battle.

"Two moons... I wish I knew their names..." Heather murmurs wistfully, looking up at the two looming spheres. They were so much bigger or closer than Earth's moon. Hermoine would be chattering a mile a minute about it. Heather could just imagine her debating with herself about the effects it would have on Herb growth or on moonstones. Heather couldn't stop her heart from squeezing painfully at the thought.

Miss Martian next to her was looking mindlessly down at the glowing embers. "They are beautiful." she agrees quietly, not bothering to look up.

"I wonder if the locals keep track of the star movements." Heather ponders softly.

"Ask sailors." the doctor says in his gruff voice. He was sitting across the way, resting his back against a tree, wrapped in his cape. "Some of the earliest astronomers were sailors. The locals don't seem very far in technology. They probably have to rely on people knowing it for navigation."

During the trek down the mountain they all saw some of the locals traveling on the road across the lake. They wore animal furs, leather armor, along with roughly weaved clothes. Many of them had blades or bows at their sides.

"I can't imagine living this far off the grid." The young Batman says, opening and closing a batarang absentmindedly.

"Bruce didn't make you do the wilderness training?" Nightwing asks curiously, looking back towards the group, lowering a pair of goggles.

The teen shrugs, "I think he was saving it for Summer or Spring break. I've only been doing this for six months. I never did have enough time for a lot of the stuff I needed to do... you know... like homework and sleep."

Redhood, who was using one of his big hunting knives to sharpen the end of a long straight branch, gives the teen a confused look and turns to Nightwing, "Hey Dickhead, any idea what he's talking about?"

Nightwing thinks about it for a moment but in the end just shrugs, "No idea, Little Wing, he's making it sound important though."

Redhood hums thoughtfully and strokes his chin, he took off his helmet hours ago, he only had on his mask, "... I think I remember Alfred mentioning it a time or two."

Nightwing makes an 'Ohh' sound, "Yeah you're right! I remember vaguely how it works but only in theory... I think I need a refresher course. It's been so long. I don't even know what it IS anymore.."

"What?" the young Batman asks not following at all.

Redhood turns to him and asks curiously, "What is this 'Sleep' thing you speak of?"

The young Bat snorts and tosses a nearby stick at the two as chuckles echo around the pile of glowing embers. The moment quickly quiets down but the air around the fire pit felt a slight bit lighter for it.

"Kid, you never did mention, did you repair that antenna?" The doctor asks the teen after awhile.

The younger Batman points at the computer panel on his forearm, "It's not exactly... never mind it's similar, so I guess you can call it that. I did what I could, I couldn't fix it completely but I did increase the range. Instead of a quarter of a mile, the signal can reach two miles now."

"Two miles is useful. Do you think you can increase the range any further?" Nightwing asks his voice slipping into his 'business' voice.

The young Bat shrugs, "It might be possible but I think I'd have to take it apart and mess with the wiring and circuit boards themselves. There's a serious chance of frying it that way. I'm nowhere as good as Bruce with this stuff. He'd probably be able to get the whole ten mile range and add a couple extra just for kicks."

The doctor grunts, "Then it be stupid to mess with them further. A mile and a half is usable for the current mission. Leave it to.." he pauses and swallows quietly, "..Bruce to fix. We can always work on it once everyone is here."

The others murmur or nod in agreement. Everyone pointedly ignore the pause.

"We're not going to get any sleep tonight are we?" Hood asks the others, a resigned note in his voice. Even exhausted after the battle they weren't showing any signs of actually getting any rest.

Nightwing shakes his head, "Since we're up, we should probably scout the area. Half of us work better in the dark anyways." he says pointing out the obvious.

"We should stay in pairs." Hood points out.

No one argues the point.

"How's the ribs?" Nightwing asks pointedly.

"Still hurting a bit. Inching like crazy though." Hood informs him.

"Okay, you and Miss Potter guard camp. No reason to strain you while you're still healing. M'gann and I will go East. Doctor you and the Kid okay with going West?"

The old man nods and stands up. "Stay within sight of the lake. No reason to risk getting lost."

\-----------------------------

It was near dawn before everyone returned to camp.

"We need to find a more defensible location today." the doctor says without preamble.

The younger Batman was holding a large.. something in his arms. It was large and lumpy and there was no hint as to what it was. It was covered in some sort of paper thin tarp, another advanced item that was obviously drawn from his suit's endless supply of toys.

Setting his burden down the teenager draws back the tarp and shows the others the thing within.

It had eight legs covered in six inch spiked hairs, near foot long fangs, and eyes that even in death caused the most fearless of the group to recoil slightly. It was a spider, a spider that easily outweighed a human. 

It was dead but even in death it felt very much like a threat.

Miss Potter was the first to react.

She quickly opens her basket and shifts though the contents. After a moment she draws out a pair of leather gloves that looked like it was made from some scaled creature and puts them on.

She kneels next to the thing and proceeds to exam it. She looks over it's thorax, it's legs, the fangs, the wound created by the precisely thrown batarang, she even draws out a silver knife and cuts it open to look at the creature's brain.

Drawing back from the thing she turns to the group, "Good news, it's not a Acromantula. Bad news it can probably grow just as large as one." seeing the blank looks thrown at her, she lets out a sigh and elaborates, "Acromantulas are sentient giant spiders. The brain of this spider is fortunately not developed enough to be that intelligent, so it's just an animal. Unfortunately this is a Juvenal, just recently hatched from what I can tell."

"How large can Acromantulas grow?" Nightwing asks all business.

Heather rakes a now glove free hand through her messy hair, "The largest I've seen was about the size of a small elephant but it's diet was restricted so it's possible that they can get larger."

The teen aged Batman groans at the news. Nightwing presses on, "Weaknesses? Do they actively hunt humans?" he didn't ask if they actually ate humans. Humans, being part of their diet wasn't in question.

"They're vulnerable around the joints, the underbelly and eyes. Their exoskeleton is also magic resistant, not that it matters to you lot. Acromantulas are smart enough to stay clear of human settlements and only hunt those that infringe on their territory, but this isn't an Acromantula. Your guess is as good as mine. They probably act more like normal spiders." 

"Do they spit?" the doctor asks grimly.

The witch blinks, her eyes going wide, "I've never seen an Acromantula spit before, I'm guessing this spider did then.."

A venom spitting giant spider... because it being the size of a small house wasn't enough of a worry?

"Hopefully these are cannibalistic like the small spiders from Earth. It would naturally cut down on their numbers." Nightwing says with a sigh, "Anyways, on the other side of the lake we found something pretty bad as well." he takes out a digital camera and shows the others.

It was an image of a statue. The statue was of a man slaying a giant serpent. The part Nightwing wanted the group to see was at the foot of the statue. It was a murder scene. There were half a dozen bodies and clear burn marks made without a definable source.

After everyone gets a good look at the picture, Nightwing clicks through the images and shows them another.

The second image showed a man but he didn't look exactly human. He had golden yellowish skin, unnaturally pointed ears and instead of wearing rough cotton or leather he was wearing an almost modern made robe. Like the others, he was dead.

"According to the burn and foot patterns, this guy killed the others. There isn't any signs as to what he killed them with, so I'm tentatively classifying him a meta-human. I don't know if he looks different because he's a meta or if he looks different because he's a possible different species."

"Magic can make those marks." the doctor growls out. He had enough experience with Amazon war animals that had magic and the very rare Atlantian who used fire, to know that much. "How did he die?"

"Simple knife wound to the chest. The one near him did it before he collapsed from his burns." he shows another image. The other man's sternum wasn't completely intact anymore, whatever caused the burn caused blunt trauma and burned to the bone. The dead man's chest wasn't round anymore, it was curved just slightly inwards. There was a bloody knife inches from his blood soaked hand.

"We found this in the killer's pocket." M'gann says holding out a piece of parchment.

Being the closest one, Hood takes the missive and opens it to find what seemed to be a letter. The words and even the Alphabet was completely foreign. He shakes his head, "I almost expected it to be in English."

Nightwing snorts, "It's not a surprise. We're used to aliens knowing English. On Earth, they knew about us far before we knew about them. We're the aliens now... it's our turn to learn the local's language."

"Yeah, but how? We're suppose to stay undercover as long as possible. A group of foreigners in costumed themed Kevlar armor isn't exactly subtle. We could record the locals speaking to each other but learning the language that way could take years." Hood reminds them.

The doctor turns to M'gann, "You can read minds." he states the fact pointedly, he must have read up or encountered someone like her before "Can you copy the language from a local and transfer it to one of us?"

The young Martian girl winces but nods, "To a point. If I try to do something like that quickly, I could cause brain-damage to the person I'm taking the language from or the person I'm transferring the language to. Martians traditionally just spend a lot of time with the person they're learning a language from. It takes far more time but it allows the brain time to adjust and there is minimal chance of causing damage. It can take up to a few weeks to complete."

Hood chuckles and looks over at Nightwing, "You know what this means don't you?"

Nightwing sighs, "You enjoy the questionable parts of our jobs far too much."

"True." Hood confirms with another chuckle.

"Wait..." the young Batman cuts in, ".. you're not going to do what I think you're going to do?"

"Oh you mean kidnapping an innocent civilian? Having our friendly neighborhood alien girl get fresh with his grey-matter... Yeah, what of it?" Hood says with a sinister grin.

"I know just being a vigilante means breaking the law but that's..." the teen aged Batman pauses looking for the right words, ".. wrong. It's like seriously wrong."

Hood snorts at the less then elegant description, "... and that's the reason the old man on the station called you green."

Nightwing turns to the young Batman, "We've only explored a small part of this world and we've already found two major possible problems. We need to know what the locals know, as soon as possible."

The young Batman goes to say something else but pauses as Miss Potter places a hand on his shoulder, "We'll make it up to whoever it is. Our lives and the ones we left behind, hinge on knowing about the locals. This is one of those times when doing something clearly wrong is unavoidable."

The teenager lets out a weary sigh but nods.

Nightwing turn to the group at large, "Okay, lets make a plan."

\--------------------  
He had no idea why he was going along with this flight of fancy. 

First of all he hated fishing. His father wanted him to be a fisherman, just like him, so his entire childhood was filled with lessons on lures and how to repair nets, sailor knots and how to take care of one's boat.

There was nothing he hated more then staring into a fish's gaping soulless little beady eyes other then perhaps having to remove their countless little ribs.

"I hate fish." he grumbles, putting his hook in the water.

He watches the little beasts glide and flit through the water. It was almost like flying. It looked so peaceful. To be taken from such a place of utter bliss must be horrifying.

"If I catch any of them, I'm releasing them," he grumbles, "I don't like the taste of fish." he didn't want his companion to think that he was sympathetic towards the little beasts. He had a reputation to uphold.

He ignores the fond amusement coming from his constant companion and concentrates on the almost instinctual actions his late father instilled in him.

Why his friend wanted him to fish he had no idea but he never steered him wrong before.

It didn't take any effort to humor him and put away his robes and put on some basic leathers. He wasn't going to fish in his normal clothes, that was for sure. Last thing he needed was for his normal clothes to smell like the little beasts.

Hours go by and in spite of his declaration to free them, when he actually manages to catch one of the things, he cleans them and hangs their little carcasses on his self made hjell or a fish flake as they were known in common terms.

For the last hour or so he felt like he was being watched. But there was absolutely no reason for someone to be watching him. Who would watch a fisherman going about his day? It was common knowledge that fishermen had next to no money. There were even some common jokes about it.

He wasn't a fisherman by trade but there was nothing about him physically that showed him as anything else. Even if someone knew he wasn't a fisherman all he had on him was a handful of septims and a spare fur for when the weather turns foul.

He could definitely feel amusement coming from his companion.

"You're not going to tell me anything are you?" it wasn't really a question, he knew the bastard was enjoying watching him squirm.

The bone hook he was currently fiddling with suddenly slips. Instinctively he goes to catch it but ends up cursing as his wild grab causes the sharp point into the flesh of his thumb.

He growls at his companion's quiet chuckles. He knew better then to curse him, even silently, he always gets his revenge.

"Not funny." he says with a pout. 

After a sliver of healing magic he goes back to fishing.

Leaning back on the log behind hm, he couldn't help but bask in the sheer peacefulness of his surroundings. Distant birds singing, the sun shining and reflecting the crystal clear water, sounds of the distant lumber mill turning in the rushing water of a nearby river. It was all beautiful.

Falkreath was so filled with life, ironic that it was known for it's countless deaths.

"You feel right at home huh?" he murmurs. His companion didn't answer, but he really didn't need to.

Hours go by and the silent watcher continues to observe him.

"You're not going to give me a hint are you?" his companion hums in amusement but gives in nudging him.

Following the direction he turns.

There was a girl stepping out into the clearing from the edge of the woods. She had red hair, pale skin and was about mid-teens. She was dressed in a normal work frock with apron. She looked completely normal but he could tell there was something off about her. He couldn't quite place it.

"Hail and well met good-lady. Out enjoying the wilds?"

It wasn't exactly a smart thing to do with all the wolves and bears about, especially without some basic leathers, but it wasn't his place to tell others how to live every moment of their lives.

The girl smiles at his friendly tone but doesn't say anything.

She tilts her head curiously and narrows her eyes at him. It wasn't a way that meant she was suspicious of him but in a way that it looked like she was somehow concentrating at him?

"If you're wondering if I'm one of the local fishermen, then no, I'm not. A friend recommended I go fishing, stress you know. I've had a rather stressful time lately."

The girl wasn't blinking and he just realized what was bothering him about her. She was spotlessly clean.

From the lowest beggar to the highest Jarl, everyone had a bit of dirt on them usually. The cold prevented a lot of bathing. It just wasn't healthy to dunk yourself in water regularly in the constant fridged North. They were also a bit of ways from a bathtub. How did she end up here, in the middle of the woods without a spot on her?

It wasn't just her pristine hands and unbroken nails that stood out but it was her unnaturally white apron and unscuffed boots.

The white of the apron was almost paler then milk!!

"You're the interesting 'thing' he wanted me to see right?" the girl just blinks at him in confusion. Oh good, she CAN blink. He was starting to wonder..

He could practically feel his companion bounce at the sight of the girl.

The girl steps forward and hesitantly says something.... It was complete gibberish.

"I'm sorry, what?" perhaps he misheard her?

The girl says something else but it's not words, well at least any words he knew. He wasn't imagining it, she was speaking some sort of gibberish.

"Have you been given Sheogorath's kiss girl?" she seemed to be a kind girl, if she was insane it would be a shame.

The girl suddenly looks to the side away from him and says something. There wasn't anyone there. She turns back to him and gives him an apologetic grimace, her eyes shift behind him.

Turning out of instinct, Florentius Baenius had just enough time to send an annoyed curse at his lord and constant companion Arkay, before a dark gloved fist connects and everything goes dark.

\--------------------------------

Breaking the news to the unexpected refugees was not easy. There were a few people without family to lose but for the most part everyone of the newcomers broke down into tears. About a dozen went into complete hysterics and had to be sedated.

"I'm afraid that the next portals that open to the evacuation worlds are the last. There isn't enough energy to even bring back the scout teams." Atom informs Oracle, "Even worse this group is going to have to be the next one through. The larger groups are going to have to go first because of the draw on life support."

"How are the supplies?" Batman asks gruffly. He had someone else take his place at the station's controls.

"We made sure to get everyone's measurements when checkups were done." before they broke the news, "The Earth supplying us is almost finished gathering what your group needs. It should only take about thirty more minutes. We should have another portal open about five minutes after that."

The scout team has been on the planet for about an hour and fifteen minutes, the station's time. Not only were they going to bring far more people then what they expected but they were also going to cut off the scout team's expected time for the mission.

"Commissioner.... err Ma'am?" it was one of the officers that came through the portal. He looked young, probably a rookie and he was talking to Oracle..?

Oracle for her part blinks at the title but gives the man a bemused smile, "It's Oracle actually, I'm en charge of logistics for our group. Is there a problem officer?"

"Millar, Officer Noah Millar Ma'am. I was wondering what were we suppose to do with the prisoners?" It was a good question. Technically there was no city or country. Every law connected to those places were negated. There was no court to try them. They had no right to hold any one. Of coarse that also meant there wasn't any law AGAINST holding them anyways.

Batman cuts in, "Who are they and what are they accused of?"

The young officer starts a bit, not expecting to be addressed by 'Batman'. He looks towards Oracle uncertainly, looking towards her for permission.

Oracle snorts at the look but nods at the man to go ahead.

"There's six people. One is just a guy who was caught shoplifting food." it was clear that the officer believed this one deserved to be let go. "One had a warrant out on him for fraud. He was pulled over in a traffic stop. Another was being brought in for Murder. He hasn't had a trial though. The last three are the most serious problem, I think." he grimaces slightly.

"I'm sure we can handle them, what's the issue?" Oracle assures him.

"They're Jokers. A guy that goes by Ghoul and a set of twins, the Dee Dees."

"Part of Joker's gang?"

The officer scratches the back of his head, his face twisted in an uncertain grimace, "Sort of, Joker's been gone for decades except for a short surfacing. We don't know if he was a imposter or not. We also don't know if he had any hand in the gang's founding other then as a inspiration. I think they're just a street gang with a theme now."

There's a snort from nearby, it's one of the older officers. "Millar, they're anything but just a themed gang. They're animals that should be put down instead of coddled."

Oracle looks to the other officer, taking note of the man's general attitude towards the three, "Anymore information?"

"Those three weren't just being arrested they were being transferred to the Arkham institute. If you want to know more I suggest you talk to Old man Wayne. Considering where the portal was his protege has gone up against them more then a few times."

Mr. Wayne had his rigged portal set up in the Batcave itself. Some of the officers, while there, took the opportunity to grab and take obvious weapons. Many were either thinking of taking them in as evidence or to take them to help with whatever emergency they were to encounter. 

The added supplies was actually an unexpected boon. 

Red Robin who was half listening to the conversation looks up from the data pad he was working on, he grimaces at the look on Batman's face, "I'll go and get a report from him." he hands the data pad to Oracle and hurries off.

Batman turns to Oracle, "Find someone with the abilities to read minds. We need to know if the man accused of murder actually did the crime." he turns back to the officer, "There isn't a reason to keep the shoplifter and the man who committed fraud confined. When it's time to go through the portal we're going to need every set of hands. Those crimes mean next to nothing now."

Red Robin who was already across the room questioning the elder Bruce Wayne suddenly turns and hurries back, "Yeah the officer is right those three are going to be a problem... The one known as Ghoul is a chemistry prodigy. After decades of being lost, he managed to recreate Joker's 'Smile-X' gas. The twins have pretty good team work but get this... they're the granddaughters of one Harleen Quinzel, grand-father unknown. All three are pretty notorious."

"So were taking three Supervillians with us." Oracle concludes.

Red Robin shakes his head, "Mr. Wayne said they mostly do low level stuff or work for someone doing city-wide heists or threats. Sounds like muscle to me."

"They still have the potential." Batmans points out grimly. Since they, like everyone else from the futuristic Gotham, went through the portal in the Batcave, there was no keeping a secret identity. The three were a threat to his children, even if they were a minor one.

"Speaking of Supervillians, are we bringing that group along?" Oracle asks pointedly. "No-one's letting them go with them and we might need some added muscle."

"Wait there's Supervillians here?!?" One of the officers was close enough to hear the last bit. Quite a few others were looking at them now.

Oracle sighs and explains, "Task force X, otherwise known as the Suicide Squad. They're a government black opts group that was commissioned to take out major threats. We had a version of them on our Earth. Basically the government forces Supervillians to do things they were unwilling to own up too."

"Each member has an explosive implanted in their skull." Red Robin informs the officer, "If they disobey an order they're immediately killed. They also work to have their sentences reduced. It's why so many Supervillians seem to get out of jail so quickly."

"That's so.." the female officer, one a black and white uniform, seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Barbaric." one of the other people listening in finishes for her.

One of the civilians from the bus steps forward, she had a young child asleep in her arms, "They helped save a lot of people today, didn't they?"

The entire group was listening in now or whispering to each other. A few them were still out of it from being sedated but most were looking at the terminal where the discussion began.

Oracle turns and gives the group a calculating look, "There isn't any way of telling how many lives were saved today. Hundreds of Earths were saved and in turn their galaxies. Just one of those dimensions could have had uncountable trillions of lives."

The group takes that fact in, many of them looking grim, one of the officers, this one in a suit and badge on his waist steps forward, a determined air about him, "They deserve a second chance then. They deserve more then a second chance." 

Another officer leaning on the wall snorts, "Are you listening to yourself? These are SUPERVILLIANS. They didn't do any of that willingly and if they did, it was probably to save their own skins. Just send them to another dimension."

"Maybe, but you can argue that people donate to charities for the tax break. It doesn't lessen the value of what they do." the officer in the suit points out. "When someone does something right, they should get the benefits from it."

"As much as they and we may want them to be sent to their own little slice of the multiverse, they have to be sent with one of the existing groups." Oracle informs them. "The station's power is limited now."

Red Robin picks up a data pad and decides to humor the group, "The squad includes: Harley Quinn, Killer Crock, Deadshot and his daughter. She is a civilian ten year old kid. She's completely innocent. He brought her here to save her." he scans downwards, "Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, and Heatwave are in it." Red lets out a breath, "They also have Katana. She keeps control of the group while they're in the field. Their other field commander, a Rick Flag, died during the fight. He saved the group. They do have another small group hooked up with them. They're from one of the far off dimensions. It's a three man group, someone named Spider-man, a sentient plant named Groot, and a talking racoon named Rocket."

"Half of them are Flash rogues. Don't they have a no kill rule?" a civilian man asks.

"Mostly." Kid Flash with an almost nostalgic smile.

"Harley Quinn, Killer Crock and Deadshot all have been beaten by Batman before." One of the officers point out.

"And we have three different people who are Batman in the group." Artemis points out. 

Red Robin snorts, "Five actually."

"Five?!?" 

"Him," he points to the Batman that was reading a screen next to Oracle, "Mr. Wayne in the cuffs, though he's retired. The Batman from the future time. Another Batman whose a lot older and Nightwing who took up the mantle for a time."

"Hey Rob, if they had a free for all, who do you think would win?" Kid Flash asks thoughtfully.

"Batman." he says with his little troll grin (Artemis named it).

Oracle sighs and turns to Batman, "So what are we doing?" she asks pointedly.

Batman keeps reading for a few moments but straightens and turns to the group, "Aqualad, I want your group to gather some volunteers. We need them to unhook terminals thirteen through twenty-one. The station has cut off power to them to conserve energy. We're salvaging them. Be aware that each terminal weighs two tons. Have them moved to the portal room. When the portal is opened we'll toss them through first. You have fifteen minutes to do this." he turns to the detective that stepped forward to defend the task force. "If you want task force X to join us, I suggest you do a vote now. If more then a third say no, we're not going to ask them." 

"Sir, the personal supplies are ready," Alfred says stepping away from a wall that had stacks of backpacks from floor to ceiling.

Batman nods in acknowledgement and turns back to the group, "Do what you need to do quickly. We're leaving in twenty."

\---------------------------

Twenty minutes later and the disconnected terminals were being tossed through the swirling vortex that would take them to the other world. They were alien tech, they would survive the bumpy trip. Everyone from the group, including those that had been sedated were lined up with supplies strapped to their backs and front. The detective who took a vote managed to convince everyone except three people. The squad agreed to come. 

Batman asked for the trigger for the implanted explosives and immediately broke it in half upon receiving it. His only verbal response to them was a quick, "Don't eat anyone." to Killer Croc.

"Oh Batsey!" Harley grins as she slings her arm around the shoulder of the elderly Bruce Wayne. He happened to still be restrained, "Oh, how our roles have changed." she wipes a imaginary tear from the corner of her eye and giggles. "I'm so PROUD of you. You grew up SO well." she snickers. 

Max who was next to him, couldn't help letting out a snort at his situation.

"What do you want Harley?" The elderly man asks woodenly.

"Why I've been assigned a mission from the big man himself. I'm to help you two through the portal!" she says gleefully. "Don't worry I'll treat it like helping a little old lady across the street!"

Max turns to him, "Wait, he wouldn't do that would he?!?" Quinn's type of help wasn't going to kill them but she was very likely to make it torture for them.

Bruce was glaring in the direction of his counterpart, who was pointedly ignoring them. "He would."

Mr. Wayne was going to pretty much get away with risking the station. It was clear that this was the other Batman's revenge.

"Oh look, it's time for us to jump through! Let's go!" Harley calls gleefully as she drags her assigned charges into the other world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The problem with setting this in Skyrim is ... well.. if I log into the game for five minutes in order to brainstorm environmental descriptions... well it ends up being HOURS. It's an EVIL addictive game. Between the last chapter and this one, I've played from the very start to level 70. *blushes* I have no more unbugged quests.
> 
> I wasn't going to add the suicide squad or Spider-man or Rocket and Groot but eventually I just said "F*ck it" and did it anyways. I was thinking of adding Poison Ivy but I don't think people in Skyrim deserve to be targeted by her. They are very nature friendly. She would totally end up with an army of Spriggans.. 
> 
> I Love quirky characters. Florentius Baenius doesn't get enough love. (For those who don't know he's from the Dawn Guard expansion). I was just going to add a generic Fisherman but I wanted someone who has a role in at least one of the quest-lines.
> 
> Feel free to add your two cents. I didn't add much details with the squad parts because I was thinking about going back and editing characters in or out... tell me what you think! Anyways I hope you enjoyed it! Please forgive my MANY typos and bits of horrific grammar.


	4. Under the Northern Lights

The trip through the swirling portal was rough. Instead of going as a group the portal was made smaller and narrower so that only one or two could pass at a time. The smaller size conserved a massive amount of energy.

Tumbling out of it, Tim braces himself but suddenly he was being held upright.

"Thanks" he says to Kid Flash, indicating the snow drift with multiple human shaped indications in it.

"Don't mention it. You might want to move though, everyone lands where you're standing." Kid informs him.

Nodding Tim quickly moves aside, "There was a lady with a toddler directly behind me."

"I'll catch'em." Kid was obviously working gate duty. There must be a minute or two delay between arrivals even with people practically entering the portal on top of each other.

Looking away Red Robin takes in the view of their new home. 

A new home... it was so strange saying that. Earth was no more... there was only this.

It was midday. The sun was high in the sky. Light reflected off of the surrounding snow drifts. The portal was barely noticeable in the light. It was hazy, like looking through rising heat from a fire or a light layer of steam. 

It not being visible from afar was a good stroke of luck.

They were on a side of a mountain, there was a clear path downwards. It had fresh footsteps marked though the snow. Going through the portal, he was near the middle of the line, so quite a few people were already here. At the side of the path next to a boulder were three of the other refugees. 

The old Bruce was sitting down on a smaller boulder and messing with some sort of piece of tech that seemed to have been in the rock for a time. Miss Gibson, his accomplice in the bus hi-jacking, was going through one of the bags handing him tools and to the side was a bound Harley Quinn.

She had Bruce's restraints on her arms and the girl's bat handcuffs on her ankles.

"Is there a reason Harley is handcuffed?" he wasn't surprised that the older Bruce was out of the restraints, nor his young accomplice. Harley though... wasn't she playing nice last time he checked?

"Nostalgia." Bruce deadpans.

Tim pauses and thinks about that a moment, he probably didn't mean it the way he's thinking.... 

Harley giggles at the look on his face. "Oh don't be surprised bird boy. You'd be shocked of the stories Kitty would tell after a couple of drinks."

Mr. Wayne's accomplice pauses and Tim could practically see her putting together the pieces. She shutters after realizing what she was referring to. She pointedly goes back to digging into her bag. "I thought you were talking about crime fighting. I don't need to hear that. As far as I'm concerned he's some weird old monk." the girl mutters under her breath.

"Bruce Wayne a monk! HA!" Harley belly laughs. "Oh you should have seen him in his hay day! A different girl every week. Sometimes you'd see two or three hanging off of his arms at parties! That's not even touching on his time as Bats. He definitely peeked at me a time or two." 

With every word the pink haired girl shakes her head more. "Don't need to hear it. Let me live in denial." 

The elderly Bruce grunts, "Just ignore her, she's digging for a reaction."

Harley flips and lets the her top half hang down from the stone she was sitting on, "Aww... I was just getting to Kitty's stories about being tied up with her own whip..." she says sadistically grinning at the horrified teenager.

"I remember that!... I mean..." Tim blurts out, suddenly as horrified as Miss Gibson who looked faintly ill, Harley falls head first off the rock with a full blown belly laugh and the older Bruce turns to him with narrowed eyes, "Sorry!... I was out taking pictures of Batman. I didn't know what I took a picture of until I developed it. I destroyed it and the negatives once I realized!" he babbles out.

"...It was a different Batman.. it was a completely different Batman.. polar opposites..." Miss Gibson says going back to her bag, pointedly shifting through the tools.

Harley tries to catch her breath and opens her mouth to respond but Tim quickly interrupts, "So what is this." he says indicating the device in the rock, ignoring Harley's renewed snickering at his obvious change of subject.

Bruce glares for a second more but turns to the black metal rod that was in the rock.

"It's a probe one of the scout group set up and it's not working. It overloaded somehow." he points to a couple circuit boards, they were fairly charred. "Some unknown energy hit it. Strange thing is there isn't any sign of the energy hitting the outside casing."

"Part of the environment?" Tim suggests. It didn't make much sense for it to be something else. Well unless someone came up, opened it and fried the insides without touching the outside.

"Perhaps. We'll know more once we test it." he says unscrewing a circuit board from the inside.

The old man pulls the charred circuit board from the probe. "There isn't anything you can do here. Go help the civilians." he grunts slightly.

Tim turns to do just that but the air suddenly thickens, the usually invisible gas ripples. The air looked like the surface of a lake that had a stone suddenly thrown in it.

There's a flash of light from the portal and a pair of frightened shrieks rent the air.

A slight gust of wind and the mother and child are steadied as the mother makes footfall in the snow.

The mother tries to calm her breath. She loosens her near death grip she had on her child.

The toddler in her arms was screaming from the trauma of going through the portal. Tim didn't blame him, before he put on the cape he would have had a hard time of dealing with it and this kid was a three year old at most.

"Ma'am, follow Red Robin. You can't stand here. This is where everyone comes out." Kid Flash informs her in a near shout so he can be heard over her hysterical child.

Tim lets out a silent sigh and pulls out a small toy he usually kept in his cape.

A couple of years ago Tim took to carrying them around. Bruce argued against it because it caused unnecessary weight in his suit. Tim in conjunction with Alfred came up with a solution that even Bruce couldn't argue against. He replaced them for some of the bits of shock absorbing padding in his suit.

So in the right situation he could take out one of his less important bits of 'padding' and comfort any traumatized child he might come across in his night job.

Tim approaches the two.

The mother moved away from the landing area and towards him. She was rubbing her son's back, trying to calm him. His mouth was in a severe frown, his bottom lip was sticking out and his cheeks soaked with tears. He wasn't screaming as badly but he was still crying.

Tim steps forward and into the child's view. "Hey little guy." Make sure to talk in a low soothing voice when dealing with traumatized children... and smile. Smiling is like yawning. Others tend to copy the movement. It was an actual physiological trick that worked to manipulate people. "You alright? Look, you helped your momma. She didn't have to go through that alone. I had to go alone. It was scary." not really, he'd been through WAY worse. It was however, still unnerving.

The boy latches onto the sight of him. He pulled off his cowl just for the purpose. The cowl was meant to intimidate, he didn't want to do that to a child. Besides he had his domino mask, not that it really mattered. Oracle was right, secret identities weren't going to matter among the group. 

The kid was calming, but shutters were running down his spine. He puts his head on his mother's shoulder shyly but watches him intently. 

He didn't suspect there was still a Red Robin in this child's Gotham, he wasn't going to wear the cape forever, but considering the child's age perhaps he wouldn't know anyways. He remembered being in awe of anyone in costume when he was younger. It seems that it was the same for this child.

"Can you help me?" he holds up a little teddy bear stuffed with shock absorbing padding. It was dressed in a Nightwing costume complete with domino mask. "He's still scared. Can you take care of him?"

The mother cracks a slight smile at the sight of the little bear. The little boy looks up at his mother uncertainly and then at the little toy. It was clear he wanted it. She smiles down at her son, "Go ahead. You can have him."

The little boy shutters with the aftermath of his cry but reaches for the little Teddy with a wobbly smile.

Tim gives it over and smiles as the little boy hugs the bit of stuffing for as much as it's worth. Ironic considering the real deal loved hugs. He offers his arm to the mother, "Shall we?"

"Awwww... I wanted him to gossip more." Quinn complains as Tim starts to go down the path with the two.

"It doesn't matter. Mr. Wayne and the Batman he knows are two different people." Max points out with a measure of satisfaction, having reasoned it out with herself.

"Your forgettin' girly, the Bat he was talkin' about is coming through the portal too..." Harley cackles as Tim walks out of earshot.

\---------------------------------

The frigid air was filled with the creek of the windmill and the sound of the large stone wheel in the mill turning. The sounds of the cows and chickens mixed well with the peaceful chorus of nature that was all around the farm.

The sky was a deep blue today, dotted with only a wisp of cloud around the distant peaks. The sun was shining down on the farm, warming the hard working people toiling though the soil and feeding the plants with it's light. 

Getting a firm hold of one of those plants, Terry pulls sharply trying to free it from the rock filled soil. It didn't come loose at first try like he hoped it would. Letting out a tired sigh he digs his feet in, firms up his grip again and pulls with both his arms and his back this time. It comes free from the dirt. Dragging it up Terry spots a couple potatoes attached to the roots.

With practiced ease he removes the root vegetable from the plant, tossing them into a nearby handcart. The plant itself is thrown into a nearby patch of brownish orange weeds.

Picking up his shovel, like he's been doing for hours now, he digs around the site of where he pulled up the plant, being careful not to spear any of the potatoes still in the ground. There was a good two dozen potatoes in the ground. Shifting through the dirt he tosses them into the cart to join the many others from earlier plants.

Almost done with this spot, Terry pauses as something soft and quiet breaks the natural sounds around him.

Subtlety turning away from others in the field, Terry slips his glove off and checks the band around his wrist, turning off the soft beeping device.

'3:00 PM'..... It was time to go.

Quickly slipping the leather glove back on he scans the hole he was clearing. Bending down he gathers the last couple of potatoes and tosses them into the cart.

He shifts the soil back into the hole and pats the top to settle it. Gathering his tools he places them into the cart with the potatoes and pushes the whole thing through the field to the farmer in charge.

Mrs. Battleborn was a middle-aged woman, a clear Nord in stature and looks. She was dressed in a rough homespun frock that fell to her shins, her hair was not changing color yet but Terry could tell it wouldn't be too many years until white hairs would start peaking through. Her hands were calloused and she was, like everyone else in the field, covered in dirt. Even for a Nord she had a rough edge to her. It was clearly from years of the hard back-breaking work associated with farming.

"Ahh Terrence, it's that time of the day is it? I assume you're finished?" People tended to be formal here. To keep from drawing attention he introduced himself by his regular name and not his nickname.

"Yeah, have to start back, it's going to take me a bit." Their base was a bit from the farm, but he also needed to do his rounds.

The woman nods, "Alright, crops or coin today?"

"Crops." he says without hesitation.

"Are you certain?" the woman looks at the cart, it was filled with about twenty large bags worth of potatoes, "Are you trying to feed an army?" she asks jokingly.

He wasn't surprised at the question, he's been taking crops every day he could, he was actually surprised that he hasn't been questioned before this, "Of a sort. I'm stockpiling for my family." he reveals to her. Gathering all these crops was bound to gather questions. The scouting group knew this and prepared. A firm story in place would keep the gossips at bay and satisfy the curious, "The family home burned and... well they're going to join me later." It was the truth, sort of. It didn't go into the scope of their situation but it did at least give others a civilian friendly story to explain why they were looking for a new home.

The woman nods in approval, "Settling their affairs then. Just proves you come from good stock. I've seen too many in similar situations just abandon everything, even their debts." she says absentmindedly.

The local farmers had a good system for harvesting their crops. Volunteers were welcome to pick all the crops they wanted, however two thirds of the yield had to be placed into a cart for the farm's owner. If they didn't want the food, the farmer would pay them for their labor.

It was a fair system. The farmer planted and maintained the crops... it was why they kept two-thirds.

"Alright open your bag." the woman says looking over the cart of potatoes, already taking out the potatoes she would be sending to market. She gets to pick what to keep because she invested a LOT more time into the growing process, that and she had the burden of selling her portion.

Even though the locals spoke against it, Skyrim was very much a land of magic. If you try to pick up something that someone still claims is there property, the item would glow briefly a subtle red, spells were sometimes on locks that prevented people from picking them and the people almost exclusively used spells for medical needs.

One very common bit of magic was a spell the locals placed on containers. The inside of most barrels, chests and bags were expanded to a very large degree. Everything in a household could conceivably be stored into a single little pouch.

The disadvantages of this was the difficulty in finding an item in the container and the outright weight of the container itself if you put a lot in it. Heather, the witch that came along on the scout mission, mentioned that on her world they had the same thing but they also had a way of making the containers weightless. It was unfortunate that she didn't study in that specific field of magic.

All of this was very important information, because he was going to have to hall that backpack, that had at least a hundred pounds of potatoes in it, on his back, all the way to base. 

"Alright there's your pay." she hands over the backpack, it's straps were straining against the weight of it's haul. It interestingly enough was flat like it was empty still. The reduced pile of potatoes told a different story.

Letting out a breath, Terry takes the bag from the woman and settles the straps onto his shoulders. He ignores as it cuts into his already aching muscles, "Thank you, Ma'am. I'll try to come by tomorrow and help with the rest of the field. Have a nice evening."

"You too lad. Watch out for bandits and those idiot soldiers on your way back. Don't borrow trouble!"

\-------------------

Chelsea Cunningham didn't like camping. She preferred a night on the town with her friends or to go on a date with her latest boyfriend. If she really didn't have a choice about camping, she preferred her father's sprawling cabin at the lake with the horses. Not that she particularly liked horses. They were big, they smell and like any other animal, they were generally dirty. But she had a choice to interact with them or not, so generally it was okay to 'camp' at the cabin.

This was not her father's cabin... this was not even close to something she was okay with.

It started like any other day. She was walking from the school parking lot to the front of the school. She was scanning her assignment PDA to double check that she completed everything when out of nowhere Max grabbed her, Dana, Howard and dragged them to the bus stop. She said it was an emergency and that they would understand soon enough. 

When the bus stopped she didn't let anyone get off, she pushed them back on and then got them to quickly follow. 

The next thing was when everything became surreal. Max took out her own PDA and tapped in a code. The bus' doors and windows sealed themselves.. the screens suddenly had the bat symbol on them and the controls of the bus were taken out of the hands of the bus driver.

Max like a trooper ignored everyone's protests, set the program on the PDA to automatically pilot the bus and logged out of it so none of them could counter it.... 

The police started following and then the symbol on the screens was quickly replaced by the face of Commissioner Gordon. 

She knew Max by name... she knew what was going on. She was in on the whole bus- hijacking. The Commissioner told Max to take care of us, mentioned a portal and told her that she gave orders to her men to follower the bus and then to follow her instructions.

There was an urgency about Max's manner that made very few of them actually challenge her. Added with the Commissioner's seal of approval everyone followed, if for nothing else curiosity. 

Max lead all the people on the bus to Wayne Manor, into the old but still opulent mansion, up a set of wide stairs to the second story study. Things became weirder at this point, Max opened a secret passage that was behind a grandfather clock.

Max went first and warned all of them to watch their steps. She turned on the lights and they suddenly found themselves in the Batcave.

Even the most irreverent of them couldn't help but pause... there was a Giant Penny that probably was made of a fortune worth of copper, there was a mechanical dinosaur, costumes of dozens of old time villians... some of them mostly forgotten. And along one wall in a dozen cases were costumes of the heroes, Batman's old costume even empty, looming over them all.

Max out of all of them didn't hesitate. She immediately went to the massive computer terminal and opened a portal in the middle of a platform.

Chelsea still didn't know how she managed to get everyone to actually go into the thing but somehow she convinced all of them.

On the other side of the portal was a pocket dimension. It was empty and there wasn't any gravity. Not long after they were being dumped into another pocket dimension. 

The people on the other side explained the situation to them. The Earth they were on just that morning was gone, her family was gone.

Chelsea didn't react to the news. It didn't feel real. Her mother died years ago.. it was only her father and some distant relatives that she hardly ever met, but they were all irreversibly gone.

Some part of her was in denial... Perhaps it was a good thing considering.

Dana was next to her when they were given the news. Dana immediately broke down at the news, immediately understood the gravity of it. She even went into hysterics and they had to sedate her.

Most didn't have time to come to terms with what happened before they were again moving. They were loaded down with boxes and heavy backpacks and shoved through another portal.

That's how they came to be here in this cold wilderness, at the edge of an unknown lake. It was beautiful.. As beautiful as any far off resort she's ever been too but something about it screamed dangerous.

Chelsea knew some part of her was in denial. This didn't feel real enough... it felt too much like a dream. She kept feeling like her father was going to show up any time now and order her home with a lecture about following her questionable friends into questionable situations.

For once in her life, she dearly wished she was getting into that sort of trouble.

"Hey girly, you register what you're carrying with the capes?" It was one of the villains. She didn't know his name, he was bald with burn scars all over him. He looked like someone who ate nails for breakfast. He was stacking up some small plastic crates nearby.

"No I haven't. I didn't know we had to." she answers honestly, reluctantly. She didn't want to talk to the man but she also didn't want to get on his bad side. She was sitting on a small crate next to Dana. Dana was still pretty out of it. Everyone was given a general supply pack but they were also given a secondary pack. The secondary pack had some supplies that were for everyone as a group, like pots and pans, hundreds of packets of seeds or actual paper booklets about wilderness survival. It varied on what was in them.

The guy grunts and points over towards the vaguely familiar red-headed woman in the wheel chair. She had an old fashioned clip board and was checking things off. "Better get too it kid. They'll start hunting you down soon to find out what you have."

"Since you're taking care of your friend, I can register them for you." another male voice offers as the burn-scarred man walks off, Chelsea turns towards it, no one was there. "Up here!" Looking up, she couldn't help blinking in surprise. It was one of the capes. 

She wasn't one of those nerds in school that memorized them but she at least knew all of the old main heroes for history class. She could recognize all of their costumes. Sometimes some lunatic tries to revive a hero or villain persona. It was survival knowledge. Living in Gotham everyone was required to at least learn the basics. This guy was not one of the heroes she recognized. He wasn't one of the villains either. "I.. Thank you, that would be nice of you."

He was smaller and more spindly compared to the other capes, he was however hanging from the tree in an impossible way. It was clear he was a meta.

"Spider-man by the way... well Peter Parker." he says as he lands next to them and stands up, He was a little taller then them, "I'm from an alternate universe not a Parallel. Same Earth, different heroes and villains." he adds as he sees her confusion. He didn't have his mask on. It was tucked into the side of his belt. He looked surprisingly normal. Average brown eyes and brown hair, he was someone that would definitely blend into a crowd. He seemed to be about their age.

"Chelsea Cuttingham, this is my friend Dana Tan." she introduces them quietly.

He nods and walks up to the two bags next to them. The personal supplies were in light green backpacks. The general supplies were in the tan backpacks. He looks down at the number sharped on the straps of the tan ones. "So who is carrying what?"

"I've been carrying number 44 because it's heavier, Dana's been carrying number 15. We might switch later when we start moving again." Dana wasn't exactly steady on her feet at the moment. They had a list of the numbers and what was in each one. They didn't have time to check who was carrying what before being shoved through the portal.

He nods, "Okay I'll tell the lady in charge of the logistics. See ya later." He jumps off though the crowd.

"He seems nice." Dana mumbles with a sniff.

Chelsea nods and gives her friend a side hug as they watch the officers, people from the bus and the capes bustle around organizing themselves.

"What are you two doing over here?" a woman asks, she was wearing a black and white slicker. It covered the hair and was instantly recognizable as a Police officer's uniform. All that was visible of the woman was her face. "You're suppose to be over with the other kids."

Chelsea bristles at this, "We're not kids." she snaps.

"Teenagers then. Everyone under the age of twenty-one, no matter who they are, is suppose to be on the west side of camp unless they have an assignment. It's more defendable." the woman corrects herself ignoring the fact that she was just snapped at, everyone was in a pretty bad mood at the moment.

Dana who was coming out of the drug haze reaches down and grabs one of the personal backpacks and goes to grab a tan. Chelsea lets out a sigh and does the same, steadying Dana as the other teen sways.

Settling a backpack on her back and the other on her front Chelsea turns back to the officer and scowls lightly at the woman, she did not like that she was being used as a pack mule even if she knew it was necessary. "What direction?"

\---------------------------------------------------

The woman leads them through camp along the side of the lake to a small clearing in the trees. It was starting to get pretty dark. She quickly excuses herself, leaving them with the others 'kids'.

A couple of the other teenagers were sitting down working on smalls projects. The Robin without the hood was kneeling next to a fish and was deep in the middle of a discussion with the Atlantian (she's not sure what he went by but the gills were a dead giveaway of his heritage). The fish looked kinda like a barracuda. It looked far more vicious than the one she saw on vacation last year.

"I found multiple clutches of eggs. There's no telling how many are in the water. Other then them and the crabs I don't see any other aggressive species in the lake." The Atlantian points out.

Robin nods, "At least the crabs are a possible food source. Have you reported it yet?"

The Atlantian nods, "He didn't look happy."

"Don't take it personally. He's going to do nothing but scowl for the next week... well if he's anything like my Batman. He's probably added it to his 'to do' list of things to investigate." Robin reassures him. His voice hitches at the mention of 'his' Batman.

"Hey!" Chelsea looks away from the two. A vaguely familiar kid was talking to them. She's sure she seen him before.

Dana however remembered him, "Matt." she says softly, bending down and drawing the boy into a hug, ignoring the bags on her back and front, much to the bemusement of the kid.

"Oh hey Dana. You need a place to sit? There's a couple crates over there." he points over to the side where there were two small figures laying down on a tarp and sleeping bags. "Mr. Lawson is watching all the kids that are doing nothing because everyone else is busy. He doesn't want me to talk to Zoe though so I've been hanging out with Harry and the kid in the coma."

"Why doesn't Mr. Lawson want you to talk to this Zoe?" Chelsea couldn't help asking.

Matt shrugs, "It's not my fault. I came thought the portal with Mr. Wayne and since I'm 'with' Batman he doesn't want me anywhere near his kid. Mr. Wayne said he's probably will be that way until everything's settled and he knows what he's going to do." he explains, "Mr. Lawson is Deadshot the assassin." he discloses with all the enthusiasm of a professional gossip with a scandal to spread. "Mom's making food over at the main fire with Mr. Alfred, so she told me to stay here."

There were only a couple younger kids. One was an infant in a woman's arms, another had a toddler. Matt, Harry, the kid in the coma and Zoe seemed to be the older children. Most of the 'kids' were the teenagers from Hamilton High school. About half the city bus was comprised of them. They probably came from areas that the regular school buses didn't cover.

There of coarse were the younger heroes but who knew how old they were.

Chelsea didn't know many of them. Dana however knew this kid, "I guess we'll sit with you." she relents reluctantly.

She didn't really want to hang out with little kids but if they could distract Dana it would be worth it. Dana was not taking this well and Chelsea knew she couldn't keep holding her friend up. What happened was going to hit her sometime, then she was going to need help too.

They quickly settle themselves. The tarp was pretty big so they had enough room to set up more sleeping bags. It was better then sitting on a couple boxes at least.

"I wish Harry would wake up. It's so boring out here." Matt complains to the girls.

A snort comes from one of the occupied sleeping bags, "I am awake. I'm still a little weak is all." Harry says opening his eyes looking over at Matt. The girls were a bit surprised by the English accent. "You know I can't play tag or anything like that right? All I can do is talk."

"No but you were in the middle of the story and you went to sleep!" Matt puffs out his cheeks into a pout.

Harry shifts a little, he looked uncomfortable, "Matt can I tell you the rest of that story some other time? I don't want to think about my friends at the moment."

The boy deflates a bit, understanding flashing though his eyes, "... okay. There's nothing else to do though." the boy complains.

"You could get out your PDA and finish your homework." a woman says as she enters the small clearing. She was holding a large pot of what looked to be soup. 

"Not going to school is the one good thing about being here MOM!" the boy says with horror, "I'll be quiet! Just don't make me do homework."

"For now... You're going to be doing it eventually, you're going to have school if I have to teach you myself." She turns to everyone in the area. "Alright kids, I have soup. You should have a bowl and silverware in your personal supplies." she informs them.

"What is it?" Chelsea asks eyeing the pot dubiously.

"It's just a vegetable soup for now. We have some fresh ingredients in the supplies. We have to use them first." the red headed woman informs them.

Quite a few people grumble about the menu choice but everyone gets a bowl.. Kid Flash and Spider-man went back for multiple bowls. Most of the 'kids' set up tarps and sleeping bags and start to doze.

A couple hours go by until something notable happens.

"I hear something." Superboy says quietly alerting the others. The civilians that were awake exchange looks.

Spider-man shakes his head, "Whatever it is isn't going to harm us. I'm not detecting any danger. It's way quiet though. I can barely hear it."

Superboy narrows his eyes in the direction of the mountain, "It's a human heart. Whoever it is definitely trained." It was coming above the area where the kids were. Normally it wouldn't be a place someone would attack from, you had a good view but the trees were in the way.

"Backup is coming." Robin informs them taking his finger off of his ear. Just a moment later a large group of police officers and all the rest of the capes enter the area. 

Superboy points in the direction of the person slowly making their way towards them.

"What the..." a voice says as a light flares above them, revealing a very familiar pointed cowled figure.

\-------------------------

The figure was holding up what seemed to be a flare. All of them recognized the pointed mask and symbol on his chest.

It was the young Batman from the future (or present?) Gotham, the teenager that went along with the scout team. He was looking at the group, his eyes were wide in shock.

"You're early... with.. a lot more people...? Did something go wrong?!?" He jumps down from the massive boulder, into the crowd and gets a better look at the group of refugees. "You're...!!"

"Batman!"... "It's our Batman!" the officers and civilians converge on the suddenly flabbergasted hero. One of the officers claps a hand on his shoulder in welcome and a still half drugged civilian hugs him and bursts into more tears. 

"H..How?" he asks baffled a broken note in his voice. A familiar face comes out of the crowd. ".. you're..." his voice breaks, afraid to reach out and confirm that she wasn't a hallucination, "... here..?"

His mother looks into the face of his mask searching, she take a deep breath, "Terry.. you're Terry aren't you?" she says reluctantly, a relieved but resigned air about her. 

Not caring about his reputation, identity or anything else in that moment, Terry reaches down and pulls his mask back. He strides forward and pulls his mother into a bear hug. Tears gather at the corner of his eyes and down the side of his face. "Mom..." he whispers, a break in his voice, "I... I thought .. I lost you..." 

A slightly stunned look crosses her face but she hugs him back, "Oh Terry... I'm sorry you had to go through that.." She hadn't thought of that... hadn't even considered it.

Terry ignores everyone for a moment, not caring about what any of them thinks, he ignores Ghoul's sudden laugh, "HA HA, Batman's crying over his Momma." a second later he also ignores a sudden thump and a sharp "OWW!" and the blond Batgirl's falsely innocent voice, "Oh No!, He slipped. I hope he's alright..."

The younger version of Bruce cuts through the crowd and stops next to the younger Batman. He waits until the younger man eases back before he interrupts, "Your report..." 

Terry takes a deep breath and withdrawals from his mother's arms, he wipes his eyes, "...There's so much to report I don't even know where to begin. I don't think we have time for it either."

The older Batman narrows his eyes, "What's the immediate problem?"

Terry takes a deep breath and answers, "This entire Province is in the middle of a civil-war. A large group suddenly in the middle of the countryside could be seen as one side or the other making a move. Being mistaken as part of the war isn't something we want. Besides the risks of us being attacked, triggering a response from one side or the other will most likely cause local civilians to be drawn into the crossfire and killed. Most of the fighting at the moment is at a standstill. Almost anything can set off the powder keg."

The teen takes off his backpack and opens a side pocket. He draws out a rolled up piece of paper, walks over to the large group of small crates. It was as tall as a normal table. He unrolls the map revealing a crude depiction of the area.

He holds a light above the paper as most of the capes and the higher ranked officers gather around, "This is where we are right now." he points to a lake and a series of mountains, "The base we set up is here." he points to little gear mark North and East of the horse emblem and South and West of the bear emblem. "It's a ruin called Raldbthar. It's part of a underground city. It's been mostly abandoned for over four thousand years. It had a few bandits squatting for a couple of days. We turned them over to the authorities and claimed it."

"What are these markings?" Captain Cold asks, pointing towards the deer symbol and then the horse.

"Each one is a capital of a hold. It's the seat of power of the Jarls... minor kings that rule this province. Each marking is a city, or a small town by our standards. They have a population of about five to twenty thousand people each. Well except Winterhold... Only a few hundred there." 

"What path are you suggesting and what are the hazards?" Batman asks drawing them back to the main concern.

Terry lets out a breath and looks over the map for a moment, finally he points to the symbol that was right next to them. It was an arch. "There's a cave under this mountain. It goes right through it into the valley just North of here but people avoid it. It might be a good idea to store excess supplies in it and come back for it over the next few days. There might be someone inside. Caves tend to be hideouts for bandits or worse. It's small so whatever is in there we should be able to handle."

He moves his finger Northward to the West of the horse symbol, "We should go around Whiterun.. that's this marking. We go to the foothills of this mountain range and into the tree line then make a sharp right Eastwards. It's through the wilderness so we won't come across guards or many soldiers... if any. There's only one road. We'll have to be careful to avoid being spotted but we can manage it."

Batman nods at the plan. "Sounds good." he turns to Alfred and Oracle. "Gather everyone together and tell them the plan. Get ready to head out."

\-------------------------------

The entrance to the cave was marked by a tattered and faded burgundy cloth. It was wedged under a large rock stacked on a series of ever larger rocks. The end of the dryrott scrap was free from the weight of the jagged bits of Earth just enough that the wind could find purchase and wave it around like a flag.

It was clear that it's been there for years.

The cave itself was ancient. The stones that made up the crooked archway were smoothed out from thousands of years of travelers or inhabitants brushing their hands along the surface. The ground was beaten into a solid rut going inwards into the dark abyss.

The wind whistled and brushed down all of their spines. It's passage through the mountain made it almost sound like the giant mound of Earth was inhaling a deep unending breath.

They could just see a faint flickering of light beyond the bend. There were faint markings down into the soil.

"Hey fire guy..." Terry says as he recognizes the markings, he turns to the Rogue.

Thee man snorts, "It's Heatwave kid... or Mick. Whichever I don't care."

"Heatwave then." he nods towards the cave. "If you see anything that's clearly dead and it's moving like it's alive... burn it." he says bluntly.

A small group of them were clearing out the cave as the main group with the civilians and officers were gathering the supplies. Leonard Snart, Mick Rory, Harley were there to burn off some excess energy, Cassandra the quiet Batgirl to keep them somewhat in line and Terry because he knew the most about what they may be facing. 

"What do you think it is?" Leonard Snart asks.

Terry points at the print, "It's a skeleton foot print. Either it came back on it's own or there's a necromancer waking the dead.... It's common here."

"EWWW Nasty!!" Harley says with a cringe. The others give her a look, she was literally someone who would play with someone's severed head if it would get a giggle, "..... What?!? I may have low standards on stuff but playing like that with dead bodies is far lower then even I would go."

"He said necromancer. It's not the same as a necrophiliac." Snart points out blandly, not having to stretch his imagination to know what she was implying.

Comprehension spreads across her face, "OHHH okay... just ignore what I just said then."

Terry snorts and turns back to the entrance slipping into the depths of the cave. The others quickly follow.

Around the first bend they come across a large briaser. It was a giant cast iron bowl held up by four large legs. The top of the legs had dragon heads carved into them pointed outwards. The inside had bits of charred wood soaked in some unidentified oil or fat. It gave off a odd smell. The wood was slowly burning.

It was just outside of a stone archway into another chamber.

"Someone was definitely here..." Heatwave grunts.

Moss hung from the ceiling. The ceiling itself was made of dirt and had batches of small roots hanging down into the chamber. In spite of that, the floor was comprised of paving stones that were worn down from years of abuse. The walls were intricately carved out of the mountain. Two large pillars with upper platforms were on either side of a doorway. The door itself was made of some sort of dark and heavy metal. There were also a couple small counters. One was collapsed in on itself and the other had a couple lit candles.

They could see through the doorway. A small stream of light from outside was shining down. The light showed the dust in the air being carried quickly away by the wind, beyond the doorway and deeper into the cave.

The young Batman lifts an arm up blocking the others from moving forward. Not saying a word he grabs ahold of a nearby rock and tosses it onto a light blue pattern on the floor.

A flash of white and blue light fills the room. Blinking the others look toward where the rock hit.... the rock was speared by a long piece of ice coming from the fading pattern on the floor.

"Definitely a mage in here somewhere." Batman says turning to the group, "Watch out for strange markings on the floor and walls."

Noting that there was nothing else in the room they quickly move to the doorway of the next chamber.

It was noticeably rougher. The floor was covered in a thick layer of dirt and the pillars looked more like something you would naturally find in a cave. They were on a platform with a slope of soil leading downwards.

*click*

It came from the depths of the room... it was a strange sound. It almost sounded like one of those hollow wooden instruments that drummers used.

The young Batman tenses. 

*click*

There was something like a creak that accompanied it. It was wrong though... it wasn't the hinges of a door.

Stepping further into the room, down the slope... it sounds again.

*click* *click* *click*

It was coming in quick succession now... coming towards them. 

Twin lights shine through the dust. As it comes into the light a unnatural grin appears out of the dark. It was bleached white. Each bone was barely attached to each other though a slight bit of worn cartridge or by a faint blue glow. The twin lights were coming from the eye sockets. Whatever flesh was once there had long rotted away.

It had a sword and a shield on it's arms.

The thing opens it teeth and it makes the creak sound, it lifts it's sword towards them.

"NO GO MR. BONES!!" Harley swings her hammer at it's head. The skeleton lifts it's shield to block but without the muscle to back up the defense it definitely couldn't do enough against Harley swing.

The entire skeleton clatters across the floor, the light in it's skull ebbing until nothing was there.

"That didn't seem like much of a problem." Snart points out.

Terry nods, "They're not very dangerous. If a necromancer is involved that's who we have to worry about. Even then all you have to do is get close and knock them out."

"I'm guessing the recently dead are a little harder to deal with." Snart says thoughtfully.

The young Batman nods, "Yeah. Anyways with the skeletons it's the numbers that you have to worry about. Alot of forgotten graveyards around in this world."

"Hey, what ya think?" Harley asks cutting into the conversation. She had the skeleton's sword and shield on her arms but she also had on a small crown?

Snart lifts a brow at the bit of jewelry. "Where did you get that?"

"It's copper. There isn't going to be anything really valuable down here." Terry points out giving it a good look.

She ignores his comment and turns to Snart and Rory holding up a couple small gold coins. "There was a treasure chest! It even had gold!"

"Gold isn't worth much here. That rusted sword is worth more then those coins. The coins are probably enough to buy a head of cabbage." the young batman informs her drily.

Harley visibly deflates, "Party pooper." 

"It still looks pretty." Black Bat informs her quietly pointing at the circlet.

Harley grins happily. She takes the bit of copper off of her head and plops it on the cowled head of the other female in the group. It barely stays on but the ears manage it. "Here... You can have it!"

Black bat huffs out a quiet laugh but straightens it and nods to her.

The young Batman moves to the exit cautiously, looking upwards he eyes an abnormally large spider web for a moment but dismisses it. It looked old.

Waving them forward he leads them down a sloped tunnel. At the bottom, carved into the rock wall was a grim face. Right below it was another recently lit braiser.

Moving forward Batman suddenly lifts an arm stopping them from following him. He pauses not moving a muscle then oddly he wrinkles his nose like he was smelling something. He turns to the others and mouths, 'Something dead'.

The wind flowing thought the tunnel must be keeping the smell from going in their direction.

He waves them forward. "If the mage points at you be ready to dodge." he whispers in warning. He takes out a different looking batarang. It was red around the edges but as soon as he opened it those edges start to glow.

As one they charge in the room. A couple white boned figures turn to them already creaking out their flesh less snarls. The batarang finds itself in the center of one of the skulls. The entire skeleton bursts into flames even as the young batman leaps over the remaining skeleton towards the robed figure near what seems to be a stone table.

Harley gives a cackle and leaps at the remaining skeleton. 

A spell hurls from the robed mage and hits inside one of the cages as he fends off the younger Batman with a knife.

Captain Cold moves forward to help in the fight but a fist comes out of the cage hitting him in the face. Turning even Snart couldn't help recoiling slightly.

It was dressed in rags and covered in blood. It was the corpse of a woman. She had a kind face but it was pale and twisted. Her eyes were bloodshot and glossy.

The woman hurls herself at him, her hands aiming to pummel. Snart doesn't hesitate. He fires a concentrated cold beam directly into her body's center mass.

The woman clutches the massive block of ice in her center and in spite of the obvious pain she was in, she smiles at him and utters something. Her body falls to the ground and shatters into ash.

"She said, 'Thank you' ", the young Batman informs him quietly a moment later. Cold turns to him in question. "The necromancer was controlling her.... keeping her alive. They're always relieved to go back." He points to the knocked out and tied up bundle near a glowing stone table. 

"What are we going to do with him?" Snart says with a glare in the figure's direction. Killing was unprofessional but he was finding that he didn't quite mind the thought of ending the creep that did that to some civilian.

"When we catch them we hang them above the throne at the closest settlement. This guy probably has a record. If he doesn't he will when he shows up." he turns to the room at large "Anyways this is the main chamber of the cave. There's probably not much left in here to fight. Since this place has two entrances he probably sent close to the same amount of guards in either direction."

"So there's probably only a skeleton or two left in here." Snart surmises.

Heatwaves grunts, "I don't see why all of us came then. Except for them being dead, this was boring."

The young Batman just shrugs, "Wasn't my call. Mr. Wayne wanted to be cautious even though I told him I can take care of it. Just look at it as a learning experience. Now you know about the runes and how to take out undead. Besides it's less boring then packing."

"Yeah there is that. So go back? We can easily off a couple of skeletons when the main group goes through here." Snart suggests.

Black-bat steps forward and shakes her head, "There might be something unexpected. Better to be safe." she points out.

The young Batman nods, "She's right, lets clear the rest of them out just in case and then go back."

\-----------------------------------------

It didn't take long to clear the cave out. The only serious threat left was a soul-gem trap. Luckily it was easy to defuse.

The main group stored all but one of the computers and about half the supply totes in Brittleshin pass. Superboy tied the remaining terminal onto his back. He didn't have any trouble with the weight but it was a bit awkward to maneuver because of the lack of handholds. Eight of the officers decided to stay at the cave. Two to guard each entrance but in shifts.

The bulk of the group loaded up what gear they could carry and continued into the plains of Whiterun hold.

Except for the beautiful night sky and the dark shadows of the surrounding mountains, very little was visible. They walked single file, the future Batman leading the way choosing the best path since he knew the most about this world and also so they're footprints wouldn't alert the locals by the number of people passing.

Everyone was told to keep a eye out for any type of animal and to immediately report any sightings. The various vigilantes were spread along the line. Most had some form of night vision... either goggles or eyesight.

Except for a couple of stray wolves they make it through the plain without a problem.

"This is the midway point." The young Batman informs them. "If anyone needs to put on more clothes, now is the time to do it. There's only snow from this point on. Everyone else take a break while you can."

There's a scrambling as a large chunk of the group goes to either put on a couple more layers.

"Where are we on the map?" Oracle asks him. She had the small unconscious form of Billy Batson draped over her lap. It was more convenient then having two people carry the boy on a stretcher.. and she needed help over rocky surfaces anyways. It was better to have the two people with serious movement issues in one location. A couple of the officers decided to use the stretcher to carry more supplies.

Terry takes out the map and shines a pin light on it to show her, "We're right here. Right over there is this marker." he points to a little hill mark. "It's an old tomb. We don't have the name yet.

Remembering earlier she points in a direction. "So the base is that way?"

She was pointing East though some hills that were just North of some farms. "Yeah. We're just north of the patrol rout." he proceeds to show her in detail all the obstacles on the way to the base.

"Snart." the older Mr. Wayne was sitting on one of the larger crates that someone set down. 

The supervillain turns to the old man, "Yeah?"

"Can your cold gun simulate normal snow?" he questions directly.

"Yeah, what of it?" the man grunts.

The younger version of Bruce who was nearby looking in the distance with a pair of binoculars answers, "We're leaving a trail through the snow."

It only takes a moment of thought, "... and we don't want the locals following until we know what the score is." Cold finishes realizing what they were getting at, "You want me to cover our tracts. Sure, it'll give me something to do."

They head out fifteen minutes later after everyone rests a bit. The young Batman leads them over the snow covered rocky hills towards another set of mountains. Eventually they cross an uninhabited road into the foothills of the nearby mountain range.

"It's past this lake and those ruins." He points towards a collapsed tower and broken gate. 

The individual towers looked like they were carved out of the rock itself. The tops of the individual towers were some sort of yellow metal but clearly not gold or brass. From in the trees they could see wooden scaffolding leading up to what most assumed was the front door of the ruin. They could just make out half a dozen camp fires spread throughout the ruins. The young Batman didn't have to tell them to keep quiet. It was obvious from the barriers with spears that the inhabitants were not the friendly sort.

They pass it and come up to the lake. In the water they spot another bit of civilization; giant pipes made from the same yellow metal of the ceiling tiles.

"So this is a underground city of some kind?" the Robin without the hood asks, as they spot another ruin, this one in far better condition. 

The young Batman grunts an affirmative.

"Home sweet cave." the Robin states ironically.

The group climbs the two flights of stairs many of them unable to hold back their grumbling for this last little leg of the trip. 

The door was made of the same solid looking metal as the pipes from the lake. Not even a moment later the door swings open. "Terry you were suppose to be here hours.." Heather Potter from the first group starts at the sight of the large crowd behind him. "Bloody Hell..."

The young Batman nods, "They'll need to be settled for the night" he takes a deep breath, "Has there been any word?"

Miss Potter shakes her head, "Red Hood is still missing....."

\----------------------------

Jason's entire body was one big ache. He was on something hard and it was swaying? He couldn't remember what happened but it was something serious. 

He could hear the movement of leaves, a gentle morning breeze and song birds all around him.

Cracking his eyes open he was met with an explosion of pain. Even the gentle morning light was attacking him with a vengeance. An agonized moan escapes his throat.

He was surrounded by people??

One of them turns to him, "Hey you! You're finally awake!......."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably really should edit this more but I don't give a damn at the moment. Enjoy!... at least to those few who are actually reading this. I honestly didn't intend for this to be posted even close to Mother's day. Kinda ironic that it has a scene where a Mother and Son are reunited. Weird how stuff like that happens.
> 
> If anyone has any suggestions... feel free to share. I'm just doing this for writing practice. I have to deal with a lot of OOCs so some input would be nice.
> 
> {Edit} of coarse I update my story just in time for the site's servers to screw up...


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